Daughter of a Werewolf
by Likewow5556
Summary: Charlotte Lupin is a third year Hufflepuff. Being best friends with Cedric Diggory during the Triwizard Tournament is definitly a challenge. Being Friends with both Harry and Cedric puts her in an awkward situation, who will she choose?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for characters I created, like Charlotte.**

**AN: This is a kind of continuation of my story 'Black's sister'. You don't have to read that story to understand this one. All you need to know is that Charlotte's mother, Rosaline, was Sirius's younger sister and she married Remus. She died in childbirth, and Remus raised her by himself. I tried to write a different version of this story that took place during Charlotte's first year in Chamber of Secrets, but I discontinued it to write this story, that takes place during Goblet of Fire.**

Chapter 1

"Thanks for taking her Amos," My father said to Cedric's father.

"It's no problem, Remus," Cedric's dad said. "We love having Charlotte over."

Dad nodded and hugged me for the last time. I'm going to the Quidditch World Cup with Cedric and his dad. Dad would have brought me himself, except it's a full moon this weekend. Dad kissed my forehead and then said, "Be good."

"I will," I replied.

"Have fun."

"Okay," I said. "Love you."

"Love you too," Dad replied before apparating away.

Mr. Diggory opened the door for me, and I walked in. Cedric's birthday is today, and Mr. Diggory and Mrs. Diggory asked me to come and surprise him for his birthday. When Mrs. Diggory saw me, she smiled and got up and hugged me. Cedric took after her more than Mr. Diggory.

"Charlotte," Mrs. Diggory exclaimed.

"Hello Mrs. Diggory," I said. "How are you?"

"I'm very good, how are you?"

"Good," I said.

"Cedric is going to be very happy to see you. He misses you."

"I miss him too," I said. "I miss talking to him. I mean I can talk to my dad of course, but it's nice to have someone else to talk to."

"I know what you mean," Mrs. Diggory said. "When I was your age I loved telling my parents stuff, but it could feel awkward sometimes."

"Yeah," I replied.

"Morning, Mum, Dad," Cedric said walking into the room a few minutes later. When he saw me, he immediately smiled. "Charley!"

He walked over to me and hugged me. "Happy birthday, Cedric," I said smiling.

"Oh, thanks," Cedric said. "How long are you staying?"

"Until after the world cup," I said. Cedric grinned at me.

"You two, time for breakfast," Mrs. Diggory said.

Cedric and I sat down at the table, and Mr. Diggory walked into the kitchen. He smiled at Cedric and said, "Happy birthday son."

"Thanks dad," Cedric said as Mr. Diggory sat down at the table and Mrs. Diggory put a plate of pancakes on the table.

Cedric and I talked throughout breakfast, and then he showed me up to the guest room. Cedric sat down on the guest bed and watched me as I took out a few things and put them on the desk. I took out a picture and put it on the desk. Cedric took it and looked at it.

"Hey, give me that!" I exclaimed, taking the picture back.

"Is that your dad?" Cedric asked.

"Yeah," I said. "And my mum, her brother, and Harry's parents."

I looked at the picture. My mum, who was heavily pregnant with me, was looking at dad and they were smiling at each other, not even looking at the camera. Uncle Sirius was laughing with James and Lily was holding Harry and making it look like he was waving his hand, looking at whoever was taking the picture. This picture was taken a few months before I was born. My dad gave me this picture after I met Uncle Sirius for the first time, last year.

"_Rosaline?" Uncle Sirius asked, looking at me. He hadn't seen me until now. Ron had been holding me back, protectively. "No, of course not. You can't be Rosaline. Charlotte. You look so much like you're mum."_

_I stared at my Uncle, wide-eyed. He looks so different now. He's not the same man he was in all the pictures Dad has shown me. Now, he just looks crazy. And filthy. His eyes are lifeless. Unlike the sparkle that I was used to seeing in pictures._

"_So grown up," he continued. "I held you when you were just a ba—"_

_He was cut off by muffled footsteps echoing up through the floor—someone was moving downstairs._

"_We're up here!" Hermione screamed, suddenly. "We're up here—Sirius Black—Quickly!"_

_Uncle Sirius made a startled movement that almost dislodged Crookshanks; Harry gripped his wand convulsively. The footsteps were thundering up the stairs._

_The door of the room burst open in a shower of red sparks and I saw Harry wheel around as dad came hurtling into the room, his face bloodless, his wand raised and ready. His eyes flickered over Ron, lying on the floor, then to me, next to him. Then over to Hermione standing next to the door, to Harry, standing there with his wand covering Uncle Sirius, and then to Uncle Sirius himself, crumbled and bleeding at Harry's feet._

"_Expelliarmus!" Dad shouted._

_Harry's wand flew once more out of his hand; so did the two Hermione was holding. Dad caught them all deftly, and then moved into the room, staring at Uncle Sirius, who still had Crookshanks lying protectively across his chest._

_I could see the confusion in everybody's eyes. Dad was looking at Uncle Sirius. I knew exactly what he was thinking. He misses Sirius. He's always missed Sirius, even though he's hated him since he went to Azkaban._

_Then dad spoke, in a very tense voice._

"_Where is he, Sirius?"_

_Harry looked quickly at Dad. I could see he didn't understand what Dad was talking about. I don't understand what Dad's talking about either. Then Harry looked back at Uncle Sirius._

_Uncle Sirius's face was quite expressionless. For a few seconds he didn't move at all. Then, very slowly, he raised his empty hand and pointed straight at Ron. Mystified, Harry glanced around at Ron, who looked bewildered._

"_But then…," Dad muttered, staring at Uncle Sirius so intently it seemed he was trying to read his mind, "…why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless" — Dad's eyes suddenly widened, as though he was seeing something beyond Uncle Sirius, something none of the rest could see, "—unless _he _was the one…unless you switched…without telling me?"_

_Very slowly, his sunken gaze never leaving Dad's face, Uncle Sirius nodded._

"_Professor," Harry interrupted loudly, "What's going on—?"_

_But he never finished the question, because his voice trailed off at what he saw. Dad lowered his wand, gazing fixedly at Uncle Sirius. Dad walked to Uncle Sirius's side, seized his hand, pulled him to his feet so that Crookshanks fell to the floor, and embraced Sirius like a brother. I could see the happiness in Dad's eyes._

"_I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Hermione screamed._

_Dad let go of Sirius and turned to her. She had raised herself off the floor and was pointing herself at Dad, wild eyed. "You—You—"_

"_Hermione—"_

"—_you and him!"_

"_Hermione, calm down—"_

"_I didn't tell anyone!" Hermione shrieked. "I've been covering up for you—"_

"_Hermione, listen to me, please!" Dad shouted. "I can explain—" _

_I could see Harry shaking._

"_I trusted you," he shouted at Dad, his voice wavering out of control. "And all this time you've been his friend!"_

"_You're wrong," said Dad. "I haven't been Sirius's friend, but I am now—let me explain…."_

"_NO!" Hermione screamed. "Harry, don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too—he's a _werewolf_!"_

"Charlotte?" Cedric asked, sounding worried. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry," I apologized.

"Is something the matter?" Cedric asked.

"No," I said. "I'm just worried about Dad."

Cedric nodded. When Cedric found out about Dad last year, he was extremely supportive. He was one of the few people who were supportive of Dad being a werewolf. The other people were terrible about it. Cedric still doesn't know about what happened with Sirius. He doesn't know that Sirius is my uncle either.

"Your dad's going to be fine," Cedric said.

"I know," I replied. "What do you want to do?"

"Anything you want," Cedric replied.

"But it's your birthday, we should do something you want to do," I told him.

"Okay," Cedric replied. "Want to go take a walk?"

"Okay," I replied.

He took my hand and helped me up. Together we walked out of his house and down the path to a nearby muggle town. We looked in windows and stopped at a shop for lunch. Then we went back to walking around town, and then we went home around five to have dinner and to go to bed because we have to get up before two tomorrow to leave for the Quidditch cup.

**AN 2: Thanks so much for reading this! Leave a review please, just telling me what you think. Constructive Critisism is definitely welcome. I'm always trying to improve my writing. Please leave a review! I plan to update this story once a week. Read and Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for characters I created, like Charlotte.**

Chapter 2

I yawned and stopped paying attention to what we were doing, so I tripped. Cedric immediately caught me. I blushed and thanked him, while Mr. Diggory smiled at us and continued walking.

"You two, hurry up. The portkey leaves at seven past five. It's twenty minutes to five," Mr. Diggory said.

"Yes Dad," Cedric said.

We got to the hill five minutes before five. I sat down next to a tree and Cedric stood above me.

"So…Charley you hear from Neville?" Cedric asked a little smirk on his lips.

I looked at him and I started blushing. Cedric started laughing at me. I stood up and pushed him and then he grabbed me around the waist and spun me around. I giggled as he spun me around. He finally stopped and let me sit on the ground. I could see Mr. Diggory smiling at us.

Mr. Diggory saw other people near us, so he called them over, knowing who they were. He was holding an old boot, the portkey.

"Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it!"

"Amos!" The man said. I recognized him as Mr. Wesley. He was smiling, as he strode over to Mr. Diggory. The others had followed him.

Ginny walked over to me and hugged me. I haven't seen her since the end of last year. We've written of course, though. I smiled at Ron, Hermione, and Harry too.

Mr. Wesley shook hands with Mr. Diggory.

"This is Amos Diggory, everyone," said Mr. Wesley to the others. "He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know his son, Cedric? And I know that you know Charlotte."

"Hi," said Cedric, looking around at them all.

Everybody said hi back to him, except Fred and George, who merely nodded. I knew that they didn't forgive Cedric for beating them last year.

"Long walk, Arthur?" Mr. Diggory asked.

"Not too bad," said Mr. Wesley. "We live just on the other side of the village there. You?"

"Had to get up at two, didn't we, you two? I tell you, I'll be glad when he's got his Apparation test. Still…not complaining…Quidditch World Cup, wouldn't miss it for a sackful of Galleons—and the tickets cost about that. Mind you, looks like I got off easy…" Mr. Diggory peered good-naturedly around at the three Wesley boys, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny. "All these yours, Arthur?"

"Oh no, only the redheads," said Mr. Wesley, pointing out his children. "This is Hermione, friend of Ron's—and Harry, another friend—"

"Merlin's beard," said Mr. Diggory, his eyes widening. "Harry? Harry _Potter_?"

"Er—yeah," said Harry.

"Ced's talked about you, of course," said Mr. Diggory. "Told us about playing against you last year…I said to him, I said—Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will…_You beat Harry Potter!_"

Harry remained silent, while Fred and George scowled. I felt bad for Cedric. I could see the embarrassment on his face.

"Harry fell off his broom, Dad," he muttered. "I told you…it was an accident…"

"Yes, but you didn't fall off , did you?" Roared Mr. Diggory genially, slapping his son on his back. "Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman…but the best man won, I'm sure Harry'd say the same, wouldn't you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on, you don't need to be a genius to tell which one's the better flier!"

"Must be nearly time," Mr. Wesley said quickly, pulling out his watch again. "Do you know whether we're waiting for any more Amos?"

"No, the Lovegoods have been there for a week already and the Fawcett's couldn't get tickets," said Mr. Diggory. "There aren't any more of us in this area, are there?"

"Not that I know of," said Mr. Wesley. "Yes, it's a minute off…We'd better get ready…"

He looked around at Harry and Hermione.

"You just need to touch the Portkey, that's all, a finger will do—"

With difficulty, owing to their bulky backpacks, the ten of them crowded around the old boot held out by Mr. Diggory.

They all stood there, in a tight circle, as a chill breeze swept over the hilltop. Nobody spoke.

"Three…" muttered Mr. Wesley, one eye on his watch, "two…one…"

It happened immediately: I felt as though a hook just behind my navel had been suddenly jerked irresistibly forward. My feet left the ground; I could feel Cedric and Hermione on either side of me, shoulders banging into mine; We were all speeding forward in a howl of wind and swirling color; my forefinger stuck to the boot as though it was pulling him magnetically onward and then—

My feet hit the ground and I nearly fell, but Cedric pulled me up not thinking at all.

We had arrived on what appeared to be a deserted stretch of misty moor. In front of us was a pair of old grumpy-looking wizards, one of whom was holding a large gold watch, the other a thick roll of parchment and a quill. Both were dressed as Muggles, though very inexpertly the man with the watch wore a tweed suit with thigh-length galoshes' his colleague, a kilt and a poncho.

"Morning, Basil," said Mr. Wesley, picking up the boot and handing it to the kilted wizard, who threw it into a large box of used portkeys beside him; Harry could see an old newspaper, an empty drinks can, and a punctured football.

"Hello there, Arthur," said Basil wearily. "Not on duty, eh? It's all right for some…We've been here all night…You'd better get out of the way we've got a big party coming in from the black Forest at five-fifteen. Hang on, I'll find your campsite…Wesley…Wesley…" he consulted his parchment list. "About a quarter of a mile's walk over there, first field you come to. Site Manager's called Mr. Roberts. Diggory…second field…ask for Mr. Payne."

"Bye," I said to Ginny.

"See you soon!" Ginny exclaimed. "Luna's here right?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Want to meet later?"

"Okay," Ginny said. Her dad called her."I've got to go."

"Okay," I replied. "I'll see you later. Tell Luna!"

"Bye!"

We started walking towards the second field. Cedric and I were walking behind his dad. We waved at people we recognized. I skipped around, making Cedric laugh. I'm glad that my dad let me come, even though we barely have the money to afford tickets. I think Uncle Sirius had something to do with this.

"My feet hurt," I told Cedric.

"Dad how much longer until we're there?"

"Five more minutes," Mr. Diggory said.

"Can you last five more minutes?" Cedric asked.

"Possibly," I said.

"You're impossible," Cedric told me good-naturedly.

"And you're a...a…" I tried to think of a word that Cedric was, but I couldn't. "meanie head."

"Oh, good word," Cedric teased.

"Thank you," I said smiling. "I do try."

"Well you don't succeed," Cedric said. I hit him. "Just joking!"

"You better be," I said.

"We're here," Mr. Diggory said.

The tent was plain looking on the outside; I knew that the tent was a lot bigger inside. Cedric opened the tent flap for me to walk in, and I did. The Cedric walked in and Mr. Diggory joined us a few minutes later. Mr. Diggory pointed out my room and then Cedric's. I walked into the room. It wasn't that big, but it was nice. It had a bed and a dresser and that was about it. Oh, it also had a night stand. Somebody knocked on the door and I said 'come in'. Cedric came in and sat down at the foot of my bed.

"Want to go look around?"

"Okay," I replied.

Cedric stood up and we walked out of my room and into the main room. Mr. Diggory left to go work for the Ministry for a little while. He gave Cedric our tickets incase his work lasted longer than he thought, and we had to go to the actual stadium without him.

"Is Sean here?" I Asked.

"Yeah," Cedric said. "I think he's in the first field, want to go see?"

"Okay," I said.

We walked the twenty minute walk back to field one, where Ginny is staying. Luna is staying somewhere even farther because she had to get here a week ago. I feel bad for her, having to get here a week before everybody else. That must be so boring! I get bored when Cedric's studying and I have no homework to do, so I have nobody to talk to. I can't imagine having to get to the Quidditch World Cup a week earlier.

While we were looking for Sean, I saw that Cedric's eyes had a look in them. I looked towards what he was staring at, and I groaned. Cho Chang. Cedric's had a crush on her since the end of last year. It's seriously irritating. She's a Ravenclaw, and really smart and I don't really like her.

"Go say hi to her," I sighed. Cedric looked at me.

"Are you sure?"

"Just go!" I exclaimed. "I'll wait for you here."

"Okay," He said. "You're the best Charley!"

"I know!"

Cedric walked over to Cho and started talking to her. She was smiling and giggling and I felt like throwing up. I hate seeing Cedric flirt with girls. It's annoying and then he always ends up complaining when the girl becomes too clingy or something equally stupid. But whatever. Cedric smiled at her and must have said goodbye because he walked over to me and was smiling like an idiot.

"You look like an idiot," I told him.

"You look like this every time you see Neville," He told me. My cheeks turned red.

"I do not!"

"Do too!" Cedric exclaimed. "Just admit that you like him!"

"We're friends! Do you not understand that word?" I asked.

"Oh, you're going to get it," Cedric exclaimed.

I started running away from him, laughing while he chased me. I dodged through people, almost bumping into a few of them. I apologized as Cedric started to catch up to me.

Five minutes later, Cedric and I were sitting together under a tree. I had my head on his chest and he had his arms around me. I felt safe and comfortable with him. I always feel safe when I'm with him. I closed my eyes and relaxed in his arms.

**AN: Thanks to everybody who put an alert on this story! I would really like if you reviewed and told me what you liked or what you didn't like or what you'd like me to change. I'll defiantly consider any critism you have. A lot of this chapter is directly from the book, so I definitely don't own that part. I hope you liked this chapter. I really would like you to review! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for characters I created, like Charlotte.**

Chapter 3

I must have fallen asleep, lying on Cedric's chest, in the grass, because suddenly it was starting to get dark out. Also, there was a loud horn-like sound and a million lanterns lit up, leading the path to the stadium. Cedric was still breathing heavily, and I was unsure about whether he was sleeping or not. I felt so comfortable just being with him. I've loved him as a brother since my first year, when we met because I tripped over air.

"Oh, hey, you're awake," Cedric said opening his eyes.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Not too long, I don't think," Cedric replied. "I fell asleep too."

I nodded and made a move to get off of him, but he shook his head. I lied back down on him, and his arms immediately went around me. I knew that we should be making our way to the stadium, but I was so comfortable, with him. His eyes were closed again and his hair fell into his face.

"Cedric, we should get going," I suggested. "We need to find our seats."

"I know," Cedric replied his eyes closed. "But I'm so comfortable here."

"I am too," I admitted. "But your father would kill us if we didn't show up, after all the money our parents spent."

"I know," Cedric sighed. "I guess we should go."

I got off of him and together we started walking towards the stadium, following the lanterns. I leaned on Cedric, and he let me, knowing that today was a long day, and that I've never been up this early for a long time.

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the gigantic stadium. We handed our tickets to a ministry official, who told us where our seats were. We made our way up the stairs to our seats. When we finally got there, Mr. Diggory was already standing there.

"I was wondering when you two would show up," Mr. Diggory said smiling.

"Sorry, Dad, we were, relaxing."

"Not in the tent," Mr. Diggory smiled knowingly.

"No, not in the tent," Cedric replied after a minute.

Cedric and I took our seats, next to each other. Mr. Diggory was talking to the man next to him, a business associate probably. I looked at the large billboard that's message was changing every few minutes.

"Dad?" Cedric asked.

"Yeah?" Mr. Diggory replied looking away from the man he was talking to.

"Who's the announcer this year?"

"Ludo Bagman," Mr. Diggory replied.

Cedric nodded as the announcer, Ludo Bagman began talking.

"Ladies and gentleman …welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World cup!"

Everybody started screaming and clapping and cheering around us. Cedric and I jumped up and started clapping and screaming. Mr. Diggory was screaming for Ireland, as was Cedric. I could hear the two countries singing their national anthems.

"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce…the Bulgarian Nation Team Mascots.

The right side of the stands, a solid block of scarlet, roared its approval.

A hundred veela started gliding onto the field. Cedric and Mr. Diggory immediately put their hands in their ears, knowing what veela are known to do. The music started playing and the veela started dancing. All around us, men started doing stupid things. One man was about to jump over the railing, but his wife pulled him back.

The music finally stopped, and people started to come out of the trance the people were in. Cedric and Mr. Diggory took their hands out of their ears. People started yelling angrily. The crowd didn't want the veela to go. Specifically the men.

"And now," the announcer yelled, "kindly put your wands in the air…for the Irish National Team Mascot!"

The next moment, what seemed to be a great green-and-gold comet came zooming into the stadium. It did one circuit of the stadium and then split into two smaller comets, each hurtling toward the goal posts. A rainbow suddenly arced across the field, connecting into two balls of light. The crowed oooohed and aaaaahed, as though at a fireworks display. The rainbow faded and a great shimmering shamrock, which rose up into the sky and began to soar over the stands. Galleons started falling over our heads.

"Leprechauns!" I exclaimed, "they exist?"

"Of course they exist, Charley," Cedric exclaimed, laughing, "they're here aren't they?"

"Oh shut up Cedric!" I pouted.

Cedric laughed as Mr. Diggory shook his head at us. All around us people were picking up the galleons. Cedric and I picked up a few. Mr. Diggory told us that they were fake, but we picked them up anyways for souvenirs. I liked the leprechauns a lot more than the veela. Leprechauns don't make people crazy, and try to jump over the railing.

The shamrock dissolved, the leprechauns drifted down onto the field on the opposite side from the veela, and settled themselves cross-legged to watch the match.

"Leprechauns are cute," I said.

"What?" Cedric asked me. He was looking at me like I was crazy.

"They're so little and cuddly looking."

"I'll never understand you," Cedric said. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome— the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you—Dimitrov!"

A scarlet-clad figure on a broomstick, moving so fast it was blurred, shot out onto the field from an entrance far below, to wild applause from the Bulgarian supporters.

"Ivanova!"

A secret figure zoomed out.

"Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand—_Krum_!"

The Bulgarians were wildly cheering as the Bulgarian's flew around the field.

"And now please greet—the Irish National Quidditch Team!" yelled the announcer. "Presenting—Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quiqley! Aaaand—_Lynch_!"

Seven green blurs swept onto the field. The Irish and Cedric, Mr. Diggory, and I burst out cheering for them. They did a lap around the field before stopping near the leprachuns.

"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"

A small and skinny wizard, completely bald, and with a huge mustache, wearing robes of pure gold to match the stadium, strode out onto the field. A silver whistle was protruding from under the mustache, and he was carrying a large wooden crate under one arm, his broom stick under the other. Mostafa mounted his broomstick and kicked the crate open—four balls burst into the air: the scarlet Quaffle, the two black bludgers, and the minuscule, winged Golden Snitch. With a sharp blast of his whistle, Mostafa shot into the air after the balls.

"Theeeeeey're OFF!" screamed Ludo Bagman. "And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! LEvski! Moran!"

I could barely follow what was happening, everything was happening so fast. Cedric was watching intently.

"TROY SCORES!" roared Ludo Bagman. The stadium shuddered with a roar of applause and cheers. "Ten zero to Ireland!"

After that, the match became even faster, and more brutal. Volkov and Vulchanov, the Bulgarian Beaters, were wacking the Bludgers as fiercely as possible at the Irish Chasers, and were starting to prevent them from using some of their best moves; twice they were forced to scatter, and then, finally, Ivanova managed to break through their ranks; dodge the keeper, Ryan; and score Bulgaria's first goal.

Mr. Diggory and Cedric put their hands in their ears as the veela started to dance. After a few moments the veela stopped dancing and Mr. Diggory and Cedric took their hands out of their ears.

"Dimitrov! LEvski! Dimitrov! Ivanova—ih I say!"

One hundred thousand wizards gasped as the two Seekers, Krum and Lynch, plummeted through the center of the Chasers, so fast that it looked as though they had jumped from airplanes without parachutes. At the last second, Krum pulled out of the divce and spiraled off. Lynch, however, hit the ground with a dull htud that could be heard throught the stadium. A huge groan rose from the irish seats.

Mr. Diggory cursed loudly as the announcer said, "It's time out! As trained mediwizards hurry onto the field to examine Aidan Lynch!"

"Stupid Bulgarians," Cedric exclaimed. "That was a foul!"

"The games going to get more rough from here on out," Mr. Diggory said. "The Bulgarians are desperate since they're losing by so much."

"These plays are amazing!" Cedric exclaimed. "I could use these this year for our team!"

"Are you always thinking about Quidditch?"

"We're at a _Quidditch _match, Charley. What else should I think about?"

"I don't know, not Quidditch?"

"I really don't understand you."

"I know," I replied brightly.

A few minutes passed, when Lynch finally got to his feet and the Irish and their supporters shouted. He got onto his firebolt and got back into the air. The Irish seemed even more excited. When Mostafa blew his whistle again, the Chasers moved into action.

After fifteen more fast and furious minutes, Ireland had pulled ahead by ten more goals. They were now leading by one hundred and thirty points to ten, and the game was starting to get dirtier.

As Mullet shot towards the goal posts yet again, clutching the Quaffle tightly under her arm, the Bulgarain Kepper, Zograf, flew out to meet her. Whatever happened was over so quickly that we didn't catch it, but a scream of rage from the Irish crowd, and Mostafas's long, shrill whistle blast, told us it was a foul.

"And Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for cobbing—excessive use of elbows!" Ludo Bagman informed the roaring spectators. "And—yes, it's a penalty to Ireland!"

The leprechauns, who had risen angrily into the air like a swarm of glittering hornets when Mullet had been fouled, now darted together to form the words "Ha, Ha, Ha!" The veela on the other side of the field leapt to their feet, tossed their hair angrily, and started to dance.

Mr. Diggory and Cedric put their hands in their ears, but it was short because the referee landed right in front of the dancing veela, and was acting very oddly. He was flexing his muscles and smoothing his mustache excitedly.

"Now, we can't have that!" The announcer exclaimed sounding very amused. "Somebody slap the referee!"

A mediwizard came tearing across the field, his fingers stuffed into his own ears, and kicked mostafa hard in the shins. Mostafa seemed to come to himself. He seemed very embarresed and started shouting at the veela, who had stopped dancing and were looking mutinous.

"And unless I'm much mistaken, Mostafa is actually attempting to send off the Bulgarian team mascots!" said the announcer. "Now there's something we haven't seen before…oh this could turn nasty…"

It did: the Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov and Vulvhanov landed on either side of Mostafa and bagan arguing furiously with him, gestivulating toward the leprechauns, who had now gleefully formed the words "HEE, HEE, HEE." Mostafa was obviously not impressed by their arguments. He was jabbing his finger into the air, clearly telling them to get flying again when they refused, he gave two short blasts on his whistle.

The Bulgarians kept getting fouled throughout the rest of the game. The veela changed into their bird form and threw handfuls of fire at the leprechauns. A bunch of ministry wizards had to get onto the field to stop the veela and the leprechauns. They had little success doing this. The game continued furiously above them.

The Irish and Bulgarian seekers spotted the snitch and dove for it. Cedric was pressing himself against the railing. I feared that he was going to fall off the railing and fall to his death. I grabbed the back of his shirt, and he looked at me briefly before going back to the game.

"IRELAND WINS!"

The Irish exploded into cheers. Cedric and I started to cheer. The Irish team members burst into cheers while the Bulgarians congratulated them.

**AN: I know this is late and a lot of this chapter was pulled straight from the book, but this will be one of the last chapters that basically comes straight out of the book, I promise. I know that its been two weeks, but I would like to know that at least one person wants to read this story. Please read and review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for characters I created, like Charlotte.**

Chapter 4

"That was the best Quidditch Match I've ever seen," Cedric exclaimed as we walked back towards the tent a while later.

"Cedric!" A voice shouted. "Cedric! Charlotte!"

We turned and saw Sean rushing towards us. He was grinning. He hugged me and the then hugged Cedric. He seemed to be extremely hyper, and I would think so because Ireland just won. His dark brown hair fell into his eyes. He and Cedric are both sixth years.

"Have you seen Ali?" I asked.

"Yeah, she's around here somewhere," Sean answered. Ali is one of my roommates and one of my best friends. She has a huge crush on Sean, so she probably was following him earlier.

I saw my two best friends, Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood walking together. When they saw me they started waving me over.

"Cedric I'm going to go with Ginny and Luna," I told him.

"Okay," Cedric said. "Me and Sean will be around his tent, okay?"

"Okay," I said. I hugged both of them and then ran over to Ginny and Luna.

"Hi!" I exclaimed.

"Hey!" Ginny said.

"Hello," Luna said.

"I've missed you guys!"

"Me too," Ginny said. "It's been so lonely without you guys. I mean I have my brothers but who wants to hang with them?"

I laughed. Ginny, Luna, and I sat down on a log and talked about what we've been up to during the summer. Luna went out of the country with her father, looking for some sort of mythical creature her and her father believe in. Ginny and I learned not to ask questions a while ago. Ginny stayed at home like I did with her family.

"Ginny!" One of her older brothers came looking for her. "Dad wants you home."

"Okay," Ginny said. She said bye to us before walking away with her brother.

"I think I'd better be going too," Luna said. "Father is probably wondering where I went."

I nodded. "Okay. I'll see you in a few weeks when we get back to Hogwarts."

"Okay," Luna said.

We said bye and then I went over to wear all the Irish tents were. I found Sean, Cedric, and Ali after a little while. Ali jumped up and hugged me and started talking at a million miles an hour.

"What?" I asked.

"Did you see how cute Sean looks?" She whispered in my ear.

"Yeah, I guess," I agreed.

"Come on guys!" Sean exclaimed as an irish dance came on. "Ali come dance with me!"

"O—Okay," Ali said looking at me with a wide grin on her face as Sean dragged her off to dance.

"Don't they look cute together?" I asked Cedric who had come up beside me.

"Yeah," Cedric agreed. "Want to dance with me?"

"Okay," I replied. Cedric led me onto the dance floor and we started to dance to some Irish jig.

We passed Sean and Ali dancing and Ali was smiling at Sean. He was smiling back at her. I've known that they've liked each other for the past year. Cedric and I shared a look.

"Can't those two just go out already?" I asked him.

"Can't you just go out with Neville already?" He asked.

"Can't you ask Cho Chang out already?"

"Touche," Cedric said laughing.

We stayed at the party until around eleven thirty. We had danced and talked and laughed the whole time we were there. It was incredibly fun. When we finally went back to the tent, I felt like I was about to pass out, I was so tired. I leaned on Cedric for most of the walk back to the tent. Today's been such a long day. Getting up at two and not getting home until after eleven thirty is tiring, even though we had that little nap.

"Hello you two," Mr. Diggory said, "how was the party?"

"It was fun," Cedric replied.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"I'm glad you two had fun, but it's late and we have to wake up early tomorrow

After we said night, I went into my room and Cedric went into his. I changed into my pajamas and got into bed. I closed my eyes and I felt the Quidditch match replaying in my mind. I have no idea why though. I finally fell asleep after staring at the tent ceiling for a while.

I was woken up by someone shaking me. I opened my eyes and saw Cedric standing above me. He had jeans on and a sweatshirt on. I sat up and I saw the panic in his eyes. I heard yelling outside and I could hear people running.

"Charley we have to go," Cedric said. "Get your jacket on and hurry. I'll be in the livingroom."

I grabbed a pair of pants and put them on under my nightgown. I quickly put shoes on and walked into the living room. I grabbed my jacket and put it on. Cedric walked over to me and took my hand in his.

"What's going on?"

"Death Eaters," He replied. "My dad went to help out, but he said to get out of here and go hide in the woods."

"Death Eaters?" I asked. "Wh—why are they here? Didn't they disband after you-know-who died?"

"I thought so, but they're out there," Cedric told me. "Come on, lets go. Stay close to me. It's chaos out there."

"Why are they here?"

"My dad thinks they are here for sport. We don't know though."

"But you know who's dead…right?"

"Yeah. He's dead."

Cedric and I walked outside and ran towards the woods. There were tents burning and I could see the masked people walking and creating chaos. There were people in the air, twisting and screaming. My heart went out to them. Cedric continued to pull me towards the woods. We dodged people running and screaming, trying to get away from the death eaters.

We finally got to the woods. Cedric took his wand out and said "Lumos." A beam of light came from his wand. He helped me over tree roots and we finally stopped in the middle of the woods. He sat down and took me in his arms.

"What's going to happen?"

"I don't know," Cedric answered honestly. "My dad said to wait here and then he'll send red sparks up or send a search team to find us."

I nodded. "How long do you think it'll be?"

"I don't know," Cedric replied. "A few hours at least. Try to fall asleep."

"But what about you?"

"I'll be fine," He told me. "Just try to fall asleep."

Cedric stroked my hair as I lied in his arms. He was talking softly to me as I closed my eyes. I could still vaguely hear the screaming in the distant, but it began to grow quieter as I fell asleep.

**AN: Thanks so much for the reviews! Sorry that this chapter is short, but I thought I had more written and today was my mom's surprise party so I didn't get home until after eleven. I promise the next chapter will be longer. Read and review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for characters I created, like Charlotte.**

Chapter 5

When I woke up, I found that for the second time that day, I was in Cedric's arms. This time, the circumstances were different of course. This time he was protecting me from the death eaters, the people who followed You-Know-Who. Now that it was lighter than when we got into the clearing, I could actually see the surrounding area. There were trees all around us, covering us from incoming people. You could see the dim light in the trees, meaning it's probably around six in the morning. I yawned and snuggled more into Cedric, who was still sleeping.

I watched the trees sway in the wind, as I lied in his arms. I didn't want to wake him up yet, because he looked so peaceful, as he slept. I don't know what I'd do without him. He helped me so much in the past year. When the news came out that my father was a werewolf, he let me cry, and he just sat and comforted me. When we got back to Platform 9 1/3, he told my dad that it didn't matter that my father is a werewolf.

I heard a twig snap somewhere in the distance. I felt my heart start racing, and I shook Cedric awake.

"Cedric!" I exclaimed, shaking him. "Cedric wake up!"

"Wh—what?" He asked sleepily.

"I heard a twig snap," I told him.

"A twig?" He asked me. I could tell that he was still half asleep. He opened his eyes again and everything seemed to come back to him. "Get up."

I stood up and so did he. He took his wand out and told me to get behind him, in case it was something bad. I listened and got behind him. I could see a figure coming towards us. Cedric had his wand on the man walking towards us.

"Cedric!" The man said. Cedric lowered his wand as we saw his dad coming towards us. "Charlotte! I've been looking for you two all night."

"Sorry," Cedric apologized. "We didn't know how far we went into the forest."

"You're not that far," Mr. Diggory said.

"What happened last night?" I asked.

"I'll tell you back at the tent," Mr. Diggory replied. "It's almost seven, we need to pack up and go home."

Twenty minutes later, we were back at our tent. It didn't get too wrecked in the chaos of last night. I was sitting next to Cedric at the dining room table. Mr. Diggory was in the kitchenette making us breakfast.

Cedric yawned next to me. "When did you fall asleep?" I asked.

"I don't know," Cedric said. "I stayed awake for a few hours I think."

"I'm sorry," I apologized.

"For what?" Cedric asked looking confused.

"For falling asleep."

"Charley, I don't care that you went to bed. I could have fallen asleep; I just wanted to make sure you were safe."

Mr. Diggory walked back into the dining room. He had a plate with eggs on them and then toast on another. Cedric got up and grabbed three plates and knives and forks and put them on the table. We each took a plate and silverware and I took two eggs, Mr. Diggory and Cedric took three each.

"What happened last night dad?"

"The Death Eaters dissapered after a bunch of Ministry Officials went after them. The Dark Mark appeared in the sky after they were gone."

"Did somebody die?" Cedric asked, fearfully.

"No," Mr. Diggory assured us. "But we found Harry Potter and his friends were the mark had appeared."

"Harry?" I asked. "He didn't summon it…did he?"

"No," Mr. Diggory replied. "Barty Crouch's house elf did."

"A house elf?" Cedric asked confused. "How did a house elf get a wand?"

"Apparently Harry dropped his. The house elf picked it up and made the Dark Mark appear."

"What happened to the house elf?"

"Barty Crouch sacked it of course. Disobedient house elves aren't useful."

The rest of breakfast was quiet. I felt bad for the house elf. It probably doesn't know what to do, but it'll find work for someone else. I hope so. I started putting my stuff back into my bag. I put the pictures I had in the bag last. I put the bag over my shoulder and went back into the living room. Cedric was already sitting on the couch waiting. His backpack was on the ground next to him. Cedric made a motion that told me to come sit down next to him. I walked over and put my bag down next to his and sat down.

"You all packed?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"Good. My Dad's talking to my Mum to tell her that we're going to be on our way home soon."

"Okay," I replied.

"Yeah," Cedric replied. "You ready to go back to Hogwarts?"

"I miss it, but I'm going to miss my dad."

Cedric nodded. "How has he been?"

"Okay I guess. He's been looking for work a lot."

"He'll find something," Cedric said optimistically.

"I hope so."

Cedric hugged me and I rested my head on his chest. I love Cedric so much. He can always make me feel better. I'm going to hate when he graduates next year. I'll be all alone…except for Ali but I need a…normal friend who isn't boy obsessed too. I guess I'll have Harry still, but it's been kind of weird since that night in the Shrieking Shack. I think he's mad that I never told him that Sirius is my uncle, until that night. But what was I going to say? 'Oh hey Harry. You know Sirius Black? The man that betrayed your parent's? He's my uncle.' Harry has a temper and I really didn't want to make him angry. Now he knows of course, and he knows that Sirius is innocent.

"Ok, you two, time to get going," Mr. Diggory said.

"Okay," Cedric replied. He stood up and then pulled me up.

We got back to Cedric's house around one thirty. Mrs. Diggory fussed over us for ten minutes, before she went to start making lunch. Mr. Diggory went to contact my father to tell him that I was okay and that he's invited to come for lunch around two thirty.

Cedric and I went up to his bedroom. I sat down on his bed and looked around it. There was a picture of me and him from last year. He had his arms around me and was twirling me around.

"You have that picture?" I asked looking at him.

"Of course," he replied. "It's one of my favorite pictures."

"Aww Cedric!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around him. He fell over so I was on top of him. We were laughing. I got off of him and went over to his side. "I love you."

"I love you too," Cedric replied. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Me too."

An hour later, Mrs. Diggory called us down for lunch. When we got into the living room, I saw my dad. I threw my arms around him and he held me close to him. He kissed my forehead.

"I missed you," I said.

"I missed you too."

I let go of my dad and Cedric walked up to him and shook his hand.

"It's nice to see you Mr. Lupin," Cedric said smiling at him.

"It's good to see you to Cedric," Dad said. "But please, call me Remus."

Cedric nodded and Mrs. Diggory ushered us into the dining room to eat.

After lunch, we thanked Mr. and Mrs. Diggory and I said goodbye to Cedric. Dad grabbed my arm and we apparated back to our house. I brought my trunk back up to my room and then when I came back downstairs dad had two glasses of lemonade on the table. I sat down across from him and took a sip out of the cup.

"How was the world cup?" Dad asked.

"It was fun," I replied. "I saw Ginny and Luna."

"Oh yeah?" Dad asked. "How are they?"

"They're good. Luna went to Switzerland to look for something…I don't really know what though."

Dad nodded his head. "What happened with the death eaters? What did you and Cedric do?"

"We went into the woods and I fell asleep and then he fell asleep. And then I woke up and I heard a twig snap, so I woke Cedric up and it ended up being Mr. Diggory."

Dad was silent for a moment. "Is it true that they think that Harry made the Dark Mark?"

"They thought he made it appear, but then they decided a house elf did it."

"A house elf? Really?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I don't know how a house elf could make the dark mark appear, though."

"Me neither," Dad replied.

**AN: Sorry for the late update, but last week was crazy. My iPod got stolen, and then I had to go see my school musical too. Please read and review! Reviews make me update faster. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for characters I created, like Charlotte.**

Chapter 6

"Be careful," My father, Remus Lupin, said to me as we stood on Platform nine and three quarters.

Other students were pouring into the Hogwarts Express. Dad hugged me again, and I didn't want to let go. Last year, Dad was a teacher at Hogwarts. This year, everybody knew what he is. A werewolf. That's why he lost the job…and every other job before now. It's not fair! Dad would never hurt anybody! At least not on purpose.

The final whistle rang. Dad let go of me and I looked at him. His scars were more prominent lately, and he also looked more worn out than usual. I grabbed my last trunk and we started walking towards the train. Dad hugged me one last time and then kissed my forehead.

"I love you," Dad said. "Stay out of trouble, and don't bother Snape."

"Yes Daddy," I replied.

"I'll see you in December," Dad told me. I nodded and stepped onto the train.

The train started moving a few minutes after I got onto the train. I found Cedric, Ali, and Sean in our usual compartment. Ali jumped up and squealed the second she saw me. She hugged me and started talking really fast. Sean and Cedric looked very amused.

"I was so worried at the Quidditch cup!" Ali exclaimed.

"Me too," I replied.

"Have you seen Neville?" Cedric asked me.

"No," I replied. "Have you seen Cho?"

"Nope," Cedric replied.

I hugged him and then I hugged Sean. I sat down next to Cedric, while Ali sat down next to Sean. They were talking about who knows what. I leaned on Cedric and closed my eyes.

"How's your dad?" Ali asked.

"He's good," I replied. Ali nodded. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too," I replied.

"Oh my gosh!" Ali exclaimed. "My sister's getting married next summer!"

"Congratulations!" I exclaimed. "You must be happy!"

"I am!" She said. "And her fiancée is cute."

"Ali, he's going to be your brother in law and what about—" I couldn't finish my sentence because Ali covered my mouth.

"We'll talk about that later!"

"Oh, fine," I replied when she took her hand off my mouth. Cedric and Sean were looking at us like we were crazy.

"What?" We asked at the same time.

"Nothing," Sean said, looking amused.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm going to go look for somebody."

"Neville?" Cedric asked.

"Oh shut up!" I said blushing.

As I left the compartment, I walked looking for Neville, or Ginny and Luna. I finally found Ginny and Luna's compartment. They were sitting with Colin Creevy, and another small boy sitting next to Colin. The two were talking so fast that I could barely understand what they were saying to each other.

"Charlotte!" The two of them exclaimed.

"Hi, guys," I said. "I've missed you."

"We missed you too!" Ginny and Luna said.

"Hey Colin," I said to the blonde boy.

"Hi Charlotte! This is my brother Dennis."

"Hi," I said to the smaller boy.

"Hi, what house are you in?"

"Hufflepuff," I replied. "What house do you want to be in?"

"Gryffindor," He said. I nodded my head.

"What did you do at the World Cup?" I asked. "You know…when the Death Eaters came?"

"I was with Fred and George," Ginny answered.

"My father apparated us back home."

"Where did you go?" Ginny asked.

"I stayed with Cedric."

"How is he?" Ginny asked.

"He's good," I replied. "Have you guys seen Neville anywhere?"

"No sorry. He might be with Seamus and Dean," Ginny responded.

"Thanks," I replied. "I'll see you at Hogwarts."

"Okay," Ginny replied. "We have to see each other more this year." Luna nodded in agreement.

"Definitely," I responded. "I'll see you guys later."

I walked out of their compartment and made my way farther down the train, trying to find Neville's compartment. We wrote letters to each other all summer, but I really missed him. He always makes me feel better. I wasn't paying attention while I walked, so I suddenly felt myself bump into something. I felt myself fall, and when I looked up I saw Harry standing above me, a grin on his face.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"Yeah," I replied. Harry put his hand out and I put mine in his and he pulled me up. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Harry replied. "We all know you're a total klutz," Harry grinned.

"Oh, thanks," I said sarcastically.

Harry laughed. "How's your dad?"

"He's good. He said to say hi to you if I saw you," I told him.

"Tell him we'll miss him this year. He was the best Defense against the Dark Arts teacher ever."

"I'll be sure to tell him when I write to him."

"So, have you heard from, uh, you know?" Harry asked me. I understood what he meant immediately. Sirius.

"Um, dad wrote to him the other day. As of today, he hasn't responded, but he might later."

Harry nodded. "I wrote to him the other day too."

"That's good," I responded. "How are Ron and Hermione doing?"

"They're doing well. Have you seen Ginny?"

"Yeah. I just went to her compartment actually."

"Why don't you come with me to say hi to Ron and Hermione?"

"Um, sure," I replied, letting myself be dragged off to Harry's compartment.

I know Cedric, Ali, and Sean are probably wondering where I went, I've been gone for an hour or so, so Cedric must be starting to worry. He always worries. It's kind of sweet but at the same time annoying. I don't really feel like hanging out with Harry and his friends, but after last year it's best to just talk with Ron and Hermione for a little while at least.

Harry opened the door to his compartment and Ron and Hermione smiled at me.

"Hi," I said to them.

"Hi Charlotte," Hermione said. Ron nodded at me.

Harry sat down on the chair opposite Ron and Hermione. I sat down next to him, and he started talking about the Quidditch World Cup. That seems to be the only thing anybody wants to talk about. I can understand why, of course. It's because of the Death Eaters who showed up.

"Is it true that the ministry thought you conjured the dark mark?"

"Yeah," Harry replied. "Somebody used my wand to cast the spell."

"Somebody? I thought Barty Crouch's house elf did."

"I saw a man say something, and then he disappeared before the officials got there."

"That's strange," I replied. "Did you tell Sirius?"

"Yeah," Harry responded.

"That's good."

I stayed in Harry's compartment until around three. When I left, I walked back towards our compartment that Cedric, Ali, and Sean should be sitting in. When I got there I saw that Cedric was gone, and Ali and Sean were talking quietly.

"Um…am I interrupting something?"

"No," Sean said. "Where have you been?"

"I went to Ginny and Luna's compartment and then I ran into Harry and he dragged me off to his compartment."

"So you still haven't seen Neville?" Ali asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "Where's Cedric?"

"Prefect meeting," Sean replied.

"Oh," I replied. "Is he coming back?"

"Probably not, but he was worried about you," Sean said.

"That's not unusual," I said laughing. Sean and Ali laughed and nodded.

"When are we getting to Hogwarts?"

"About an hour or so," Sean responded.

I nodded and sat down on the chair across from them. I opened my trunk and took out a muggle book dad got me. I pushed my black hair out of my face and started reading. I love reading. Dad says that mom hated to read, but I probably got my love for reading from dad. I remember when I was little dad would read to me when I couldn't sleep.

_It was pouring and thundering out. I was six and it was around midnight. I crept down the steps, to find Daddy. He was in the kitchen, writing a letter to somebody. Our owl, Romulus, was sitting on the window sill. It thundered and I cried out and covered my ears. Dad looked up at me and frowned slight_

"_Honey what's the matter?" _

_I pointed to the ceiling, trying to get my dad to understand I was scared. It thundered again and I covered my ears._

"_Come here sweetie," Dad said putting his quill down. He opened his arms and I went over to sit on his lap. "Are you afraid of the thunder?"_

"_Yes," I responded. It thundered again and I hid my face in Daddy's chest. _

_I heard him chuckle. "Honey, thunder can't hurt you."_

"_It's so loud and it sounds mad. Why?"_

"_Because the gods get angry, and they fight by making thunder."_

"_Why do they have fights?" I asked curiously._

"_Because they have disagreements about things."_

"_Like what?"_

"_Like what to do about little girls who are to curious for their own good," Daddy responded smiling. He stood up, still holding me. _

"_Daddy will you read me a story?"_

"_Ok," Daddy said. "Let me finish writing this letter and then I'll be up in a few minutes. Tuck yourself in, ok?"_

"_Ok daddy," I responded. Daddy put me down and I walked up the stairs. It thundered again, but I didn't get so scared, now that I knew why it thundered. _

_When I got into my room, I crawled into my bed. I looked around my room, but everything looked different at night. My usually purple walls were darker, and my dresser cast a shadow all around my room. My closet door was shut, like I liked so it didn't scare me at night. My night light was turned on._

_Daddy walked into my room and smiled at me. He pulled the blankets tighter around me and then sat down. _

"_What story do you want me to tell you tonight?" Daddy asked._

"_One about Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," I replied._

"_Okay," Daddy said. "Years ago, four friends, a stag, a dog, a rat, and a werewolf—"_

"_Like you daddy?"_

"_Yeah, Charlotte, like me," Daddy said. "They were the best of friends. They called themselves the marauders. They lived in the dark woods, in a cave. They loved to cause trouble for anybody who came in the forest…"_

"Charlotte?" Sean asked.

"What?" I asked.

"We're almost at Hogwarts…we need to change into our robes."

"Oh, right, sorry," I said standing up.

Twenty minutes later, the Hogwarts express pulled into Hogsmeade station. Sean, Ali, and I gathered our things together and then we made our way off the train. When we got off the Hogwarts express, we started walking towards the carriages. While we walked, I scanned everybody to see if I could find Neville. I saw Cedric walking towards us. He was stopped at least ten times by students saying hi to him. He, being the polite person, talked to anybody who talked to him.

"Oi! Diggory!" Sean shouted at him. He looked over at us and motioned that he'd come over in a few minutes. "Let's find a carriage. He can catch up with us when he's done being a people's person."

"A what?"

"I don't know, my dad said it once," Sean replied. Ali and I laughed as we got into a carriage.

A few minutes later, Cedric slid into the seat next to me. He smiled at me and Sean shook his head. "Where have you been?" Sean asked.

"Oh, nowhere," Cedric replied grinning.

I rolled my eyes. "With Cho again?"

"Just to say hi, is that so bad?"

"Whatever you say Cedric," Ali said.

Ten minutes later, we were sitting at the Hufflepuff table. Ali and Sean were sitting next to Sean and I was sitting next to Cedric on the other side. Cedric kept looking over at the Ravenclaw table to catch a glimpse of Cho Chang. I only scanned the Gryffindor table once, when I saw Neville wave to me. I wasn't really paying attention to the sorting. It's boring and I'm so hungry. I ate a little on the train, but that was hours ago.

Cedric nudged me. "What?" I asked.

"Sortings over," Cedric replied. "Foods here."

"Oh, yay!"

Cedric shook his head and laughed. Sean was piling food onto his plate, while Cedric followed his lead. Ali and I started calmly putting food on our plates. Cedric and Sean were talking about Quidditch, of course, while Ali and I talked about what we did over the summer.

When everybody was done eating, Dumbledore stood up to give us the usual welcome speech.

"So! Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle," Dumbledore said. He listed the objects forbidden. Cedric, Sean, Ali, and I rolled our eyes at the list. He started talking about rules that second years and up knew already.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year," Dumbledore told us.

"What?" Sean and Cedric called out in outrage. Horrified cries came out from every house table.

"This," Dumbledore started over the outrage throughout the Great Hall. "is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy—but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts—"

Just then, the ceiling crackled with thunder, and the Great Hall doors banged open. A man stood in the doorway. He started walking down the Great Hall, all eyes on him. He had a wooden leg, his face was scarred, and it looked like he had a chunk of his nose missing. One of his eyes was small and dark, while the other one was huge and it kept zooming around, going into the back of his head.

"That's Mad-eye Moody," Cedric whispered to us.

"May I introduce our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody."

Dumbledore and Hagrid clapped, but quickly stopped when they realized nobody else in the Great Hall was clapping, they were too focused on his face.

"As I was saying, we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

There was a rumble throughout the Great Hall. Everybody started talking at once. Cedric and Sean both looked at each other and grinned. I felt my heart sinking as I understood what they were planning. To enter the Tournament.

**AN: Sorry for the extremely long wait for this chapter. I made this chapter longer to make up for it. Please review so I know that people are reading this story! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**

Chapter 7

"I don't think you should enter," I said to Cedric. We were sitting alone in the common room, everybody else had gone to bed.

"What?" Cedric asked looking at me. He has been talking about entering since the feast three days ago. "Why not?"

"You heard Dumbledore," I told him. "'It's not for the fainthearted'."

"Are you telling me that I'm lighthearted?" Cedric asked. His face transformed into his angry face.

"No!" I exclaimed. "I think you're really brave!"

"Then why don't you want me to enter the tournament?"

"People have died," I whispered. "Cedric, you're the big brother I never had. I—I don't want to lose you."

His face softened and he pulled me into his arms. "Charley, I'm not going to leave you. I promise you, I'm not leaving. Even if you want me to leave, I'm not."

"I never want you to leave," I said. He smiled and I leaned on him.

The next morning, I woke up leaning on Cedric in the common room. A few people were walking out the door, but only the early risers. I yawned and stretched, and then I shook Cedric awake. When he opened his eyes, he sat up and stretched. Then he stood up and hugged me.

"You two fall asleep out here again?" Sean asked walking down the steps.

"Yeah," Cedric replied looking over at him. "What time is it?"

"Seven," Sean replied.

Cedric nodded and we went into our dorms. Ali was in the bathroom, brushing her dirty blonde hair. She was already dressed in her robes. I walked into the bathroom and into a stall to change out of my pajamas and into my robes. When I came out, I went to the mirror and started to brush my dark hair.

"Morning," Ali said.

"Morning," I replied yawning.

"When did you and Cedric go to bed?"

"Dunno, probably after twelve."

Ali shook her head. "I don't understand how you can even function now."

"It's a talent," I said smirking at her. She laughed. We've had this conversation so many times now, that it's a joke. "What do we have first today?"

"Charms and then History of Magic," Ali replied.

"No potions today?"

"Yeah," Ali replied.

"This is probably my favorite day ever," I replied, laughing.

When we finished getting ready, we walked out of our dorm and into the common room. Sean and Cedric were sitting on couches waiting for us. When they saw us the two stood up and we walked out the door and towards the Great Hall. We were a few minutes late, but we usually are.

We sat down and started eating. I usually don't eat too much at breakfast, just enough to last until Lunch. Ali usually does the same as me. Sean and Cedric on the other head completely stuff their faces at Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, and never gain weight. I don't understand it.

Halfway through breakfast, the flurry of owls came like they always do. My dad's owl, Romulus dropped two letters next to my plate. I picked them up and one was in Dad's familiar handwriting and the other was in messy unfamiliar handwriting. I looked at it confused, and decided to read it while I was alone. I put the unfamiliar letter in my bag with my books.

Cedric, Ali, and Sean were all to immersed in their letters to notice that I put one in my bag. I opened the one from dad.

_Dear Charlotte,_

_I'm sorry that this letter is a few days late. I've been out interviewing for jobs in the muggle world. It's easier that way. I hope that you've had a good first few days at Hogwarts. When you write to me again, I want you to tell me all about it. I hope that you've been good and save like you promised. Have you seen Harry? Tell him and Cedric and your other friends that I say hi. _

_Your defense against the dark arts teacher is Mad-eye Moody I hear. Amos Diggory wrote to me the other day about it. He might seem strange to you, and scary, but know that he's a good guy. He just has seen things that most people can't dream about. _

_The other letter that Romulus is carrying is from Sirius. I haven't read it, so I don't know what it says. I got it the day that you left for Hogwarts. He's requesting that when you write letters to him, you call him 'Snuffles' so if it's intercepted, people won't realize who it is. Also continually change owls, just as a precaution._

_I've been feeling good lately, even though the full moon is coming up. Snape sent the Wolfsbane to me yesterday, so I'm going to start taking it. Anyways, I'd better go, but I love you. Stay safe, and know that I love you._

_ Love Dad_

"How's your dad?" Cedric asked when I finished.

"He's good," I replied. "He says hi."

The three nodded and I put the letter away in my bag. The bell chimed for classes to start. We got up and Cedric and Sean went towards the dungeons for Potions, while we went towards Charms.

"Who do we have this class with?"

"Ravenclaws," Ali responded.

Five minutes later, we walked into the Charms room. I smiled and waved to Luna, who I haven't seen since the first day back. I've seen Ginny twice since we've gotten back; we have Care of Magical creatures together and Herbology. Ali and I sat on the Hufflepuff side of the classroom together.

During Charms, we practiced spells from last year, to help us get ready for learning new ones this year. Professor Flitwick told me to tell my father that he says hello. Ali and I finished practicing early, so we sat down to talk.

"How's Sean?" I asked.

"Oh my gosh, Charlotte! I like him so much! So, so, so much!" she exclaimed.

"I think he likes you back," I offered. "He always smiles at you."

"He smiles at everybody, though!" She exclaimed. "I wish there was a way that I could find out, but not let him know that I want to know!"

"What?" I asked, looking at her confused. "Say that again but not the same way."

Ali sighed. "I want to know if he likes me. But I don't want him to know I'm trying to figure out whether or not he likes me."

"I can ask Cedric," I offered.

"No!" She exclaimed. "He'll tell Sean!"

"Cedric's not like that," I responded.

"I know, but just don't say anything to him."

"If you say so," I responded.

The bell rang, signaling the end of classes. The rest of the day went by quickly. After classes ended, we met Sean and Cedric and we walked back towards the common room. As we walked, Harry came up to us.

"Hi," he said to us. "Charlotte can I talk to you?"

I nodded. "Go ahead," I said to Cedric, Sean, and Ali. "I'll be back soon."

They nodded and I followed Harry. I asked him where we were going a few times, but he ignored me. He seemed determined to get to wherever he was dragging me off to.

"Harry where are we going?"

"Neville. He wants to talk to you."

"Oh, about what?"

"I don't know," he replied.

Five minutes later, we got to an abandoned classroom. I saw Neville staring out the window. Before I went into the classroom, Harry pulled me back.

"We saw the unforgivable curses in Defense Against the Dark Arts today," Harry whispered. "I think he wants to talk to you about it."

"Ok," I whispered back. Harry nodded and walked away.

I walked into the room, and Neville turned around to look at me. He looked sad with a faraway look on his face. I went over to him and hugged him. He hugged me back slightly.

"What happened?" I asked.

"We saw the unforgivable curses today," He said, his voice hoarse like he'd been crying.

"Moody showed you those?" I exclaimed outraged. "Why?"

"He—he said we needed to be prepared for what's out there," He whispered. "Death Eaters tortured my parents with the cruciatus curse when I was a baby."

"Oh, Neville," I said. I didn't know what to say to him, how to help him. Neville and I have grown close in the past three years, and he's never told me about this. "I—I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," He whispered. "J—just seeing the spider in so much pain…" He trailed off and looked out the window. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked.

"For telling you this," He replied.

"Neville you can't hide stuff like this from me! I want to know about this. You're hurting and you can't keep it locked inside you. It'll eat you apart. I'm your friend. I want to know things that are bothering you. That's what friends do."

"I know," He said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before now."

"It's okay," I said hugging him. "It's okay."

**AN: Ok, so I know its been a while, but my laptop broke so now I have to use my parents laptop or the main computer. I will try to update again next weekend or before. But I have two thesis's due soon, so I'm going to have to work on them a lot. But the good news is summers almost here :) That means I'll be able to update a lot more. Anyways, thanks for the reviews! Read and Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

_Dear Daddy,_

_I miss you, so much. I've been good lately. Cedric's going to enter the Triwizard Tournament…I really hope he doesn't get picked. He really wants to be the Hogwarts Champion, but people die in the tournament! The other schools are arriving in a few weeks. Everybody at Hogwarts misses you. All the professors, except for Snape, have told me to tell you that they say hello. I think they miss you._

_Professor Moody is insane! Daddy, I know you said that he wasn't but I really think he is. He showed the Fourth Years the Cruciatus curse…Neville told me about his parents and how You-Know-Who's followers crucioed them into insanity. Did you know his parents? Neville was really upset about it the other day…I wish there was some way I could help him feel better. _

_Anyways, I'd better go. It's getting late and I still have to go send this to you. I love you and good night. _

_ Love,_

_ Charlotte_

_PS. I'm about to read Uncle Sirius's letter._

I folded the letter to Dad and put it on my desk. Then I looked around the dormitory. I was all alone, so I took my letter out from Uncle Sirius. I have no idea what the letter says.

_Dear Charlotte,_

_I'm coming towards Hogwarts. You're a third year right? So you can go to Hogsmeade Village. I want you and Harry to visit sometimes during Hogsmeade Village. If you could, could you bring food with you whenever you come to visit? _

_Anyways, it was…amazing to see you at the end of school year last year. You_

_look just like your mother did when she was your age. I'm sure you're just like her, but with your father in you too. I look forward to getting to know you. I wish that I already did know you, but I do look forward to the coming years, when I can come out in public and you don't have to come visit me in a cave somewhere. _

_ I'd better go, but please write me back. _

_ Love,_

_ Snuffles_

I put the letter down as Ali walked into the room. I quickly placed a book over it and smiled at her.

"What are you doing?"

"Writing a letter to my dad," I replied showing her my letter that I already wrote to my dad.

"Oh, ok," Ali replied, going into the bathrooms.

I took another piece of parchment out and then I took a quill out.

_Snuffles,_

_I really look forward to seeing you soon. Yes, I am a third year, so whenever you want me to come, I will. I need to go now, but I'll see you soon. Stay safe._

_ Charlotte_

I put the letters in my bag and stood up. Ali came out of the bathroom and we walked to the Great Hall together. Cedric and Sean met us there, and I waved to Ginny, Neville, and Luna. Harry and his friends weren't here yet. It was dinner time, so I'll only have a little time to bring my letters to the owlery to send them. I don't want to send my owl because the journey might be too long for her.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The weeks went by and it was soon the day before Halloween. The people from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons are arriving today, so we get out of class early to greet them. I'm sort of excited about them coming, but it marks the beginning of the Triwizard Tournament. I'm scared of Cedric entering. Once he enters, there's no turning back. If he's chosen, he'll have to compete. And what if he gets hurt? I don't know what I'd do if something happened to him.

"Charlotte, come on we have to get ready for breakfast!" Ali exclaimed. I was still lying in bed, thinking about the nightmare I had last night. Ali was already dressed in her robes and was looking impatiently at me.

"You go ahead without me. I'll be there in a few minutes," I replied.

"Fine," Ali replied, sighing. She walked out of the room.

I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I had dark circles under my eyes from the lack of sleep. I had a bad dream, one that involved Uncle Sirius getting caught, and I didn't fall back asleep until after four in the morning. I ran a brush through my thick black hair and then I gathered it into a ponytail. Then I pulled on my robes and grabbed my bag. I walked into the common room. It was empty except for one person. Cedric.

"Hey, took you long enough," he replied standing up. He grinned at me, to tell me that he was only joking.

"You didn't have to wait," I replied.

"I wanted to," he responded.

We walked towards the Great Hall standing next to each other. He kept looking at me, like he was waiting to say something. I know that he knows that I don't want him to enter the tournament. Even if he was the Hogwarts Champion, I would be terrified of losing him. He's the best friend…no brother I've ever had. As I went to open the door, he grabbed my hand and pulled me back.

"I want to talk to you," He said looking at me seriously.

"Ok," I replied.

"Tomorrow, I'm putting my name into the Goblet of Fire."

"I—I know," I replied, half whispering. "J—just tell me when you are."

He nodded and hugged me. I rested my head on his chest for a few minutes, before we walked into the Great Hall to have breakfast. We made our way to the Hufflepuff table. Ali and Sean were deep in conversation, so they didn't even notice when we sat down. Cedric and I shared a look, and he shook his head.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The day went by incredibly fast, and soon it was time to go meet the people from the two rival schools. Ali and I met Cedric and Sean and then we made our ways out to the entrance Hall. We had our cloaks on because we're going to be waiting outside, I suppose.

Professor Sprout, like all the other professors were lining their students up by year. Cedric and Sean had to stand towards the back, since they're both sixth years. Ali and I were near the front since we're only third years. Ali was shivering since it was getting dark and it was chilly.

"What's taking them so long?" Ali whined.

"Who knows," I replied, jumping up and down on the balls of my feet trying to keep warm. "Why does it have to be cold out today?"

"Ugh," Ali replied.

Just when we thought we couldn't take the cold much longer, Dumbledore said "Aha! Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"

"Where?" said many students eagerly, all looking in different directions.

Something large, much larger than a broomstick—or, indeed, a hundred broomsticks—was hurtling across the deep blue sky toward the castle, growing larger all the time.

As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring towards them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.

The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes.

A boy in pale robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectfully. Then a shining, high-heeled black shoe emerged from the inside of the carriage—a shoe the size of a child's sled—followed, almost immediately, by the largest woman anybody ever saw in their lives.

The woman had a handsome, olive-skinned face; large, black, liquid-looking eyes, and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. She was dressed from head to foot in black satin, and many magnificent opals gleamed by her throat and on her thick neck.

Dumbledore began to clap and the rest of us followed.

"My dear Madame Maxime," he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dorr," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"

Dumbledore and her talked for a few more minutes, before her and her students made their way into the castle to get warm. Everybody was waiting anxiously for Durmstrang to come. Me and Ali began jumping up and down from the cold. I looked back at Cedric who was smiling at Cho Chang. I saw her giggle and then whisper something to one of her friends. I rolled my eyes so Cedric would see. He just grinned at me. I shook my head and turned back to where we were standing.

The people from Durmstrang finally arrived. They arrived in a boat that goes under the water. Karkaroff, was tall and thin with short white hair and a goatee. His students went inside the castle after he talked to Dumbledore.

After all the Durmstrang students got in, we began walking back into the castle. Cedric and Sean waited off to the side for us. Together, we walked towards the Great Hall, where we'd have a feast and then the Tournament would really begin. I leaned on Cedric while we walked, his body warming mine. Ali and Sean kept pushing each other, and laughing. I rolled my eyes.

The Durmstrang students, sat with the Slytherins of course, and the Beauxbatons sat with the Ravenclaws, where Cedric repeatedly looked over at Cho Chang.

"Cedric?" I asked him as he was staring at Cho again.

"Hm?" he asked not looking over at me.

"What color are my eyes?"

"Blue," he answered.

"Wrong," I replied, rolling my eyes. "That's what color Cho Chang's eyes are. Now stop staring at her. Girls don't like to be stared at."

"Oh yeah?" Cedric responded looking back at me. "What do they like?"

"I thought you'd know by now, seeing as your seventeen."

"Well I don't," He responded. "Charley please! Help me?"

I sighed. He looked at me with his 'pleading' face. "Fine."

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"Uh—huh," I responded.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and—most particularly—guests. I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable. The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast. I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!" Dumbledore said at the beginning of the feast.

When everybody was finished eating Dumbledore stood up and began speaking again.

"The moment has come. The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket—just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways…their magical prowess—their daring—their powers of deduction—and, of course their ability to cope with danger.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament one from each of the participations schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore now took out his wand and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable had it not been full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames.

Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the hall.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet. Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation, I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all," Dumbledore finished his speech.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Are you entering Cedric?" A boy in Cedric's year asked as me and Cedric walked down towards the entrance hall.

"Yes," Cedric replied, nodding and smiling.

The boy cheered and ran off in the opposite direction, probably to inform the masses that Cedric's entering. Cedric just smiled and shook his head.

"You sure are popular today," I commented.

"Well, I am about to possibly bring our house the biggest honor if I'm chosen, so I'm thinking that people are going to cheer throughout the day."

"Well, I suggest that you don't let it get to your head."

"Would I do that?"

"Probably," I replied, smiling.

"I'll get you for that."

"I'm sure you will," I replied.

"Cedric!" Sean exclaimed, running up behind us. Ali was trailing behind him.

"Sean?"

"The Weasley twins just put their name into the Goblet. They grew white beards and the goblet rejected their names."

"Wow," I commented.

The four of us made our way to the entrance hall. Ali, Sean, and I stood back as Cedric walked up to the goblet with his name written on the piece of parchment. He stepped through the age-line and put the parchment into the fire. People all around us clapped for him, and he just smiled and walked back to us.

After the Halloween feast, it was time for the names of the champions to be chosen. I was sitting next to Cedric, my head resting on his shoulder. I could feel how tense he was.

The first champion to be named was the Durmstrang Champion. Dumbledore announced that Viktor Krum was the champion. Their headmaster cheered loudly for him. The next name out of the Goblet of Fire was Fleur Delacour for Beauxbatons.

I gripped Cedric's hand as he became even tenser, waiting for the Hogwarts Champion's name to be announced. We looked at each other and I was preparing myself, just in case, for if Cedric lost.

"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is Cedric Diggory."

Everybody at our table jumped up and started yelling and cheering. Cedric stood up and I hugged him before he started walking down the isle towards the room the other champion's disappeared through. Everybody at our table was clapping and some people were clapping.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore called happily as at last the tumult died down. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champion every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real—"

But Dumbledore suddenly stopped speaking, and it was apparent to everybody what had distracted him.

The fire in the goblet had just turned red again. Sparks were flying out of it. A long flame shot suddenly into the air, and borne upon it was another piece of parchment.

Automatically, it seemed, Dumbledore reached out a long hand and seized the parchment. He held it out and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which Dumbledore stared at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at Dumbledore. And then Dumbledore cleared his throat and read—

"Harry Potter."

**AN: I'm so sorry for the long wait. I got sick and then my computer broke for weeks and I could only get short amounts of time on my parents computer to write this. I have finals next week and schools out for the summer, so I hope to update more frequently. Thanks so much for the reviews! I hope you read and review! If there's anything you'd like to see happen, write it in a review. Thanks so much!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this **

Chapter 9

The whole great hall was quiet, all eyes on Harry. I saw Hermione nudge him and he stood up. He slowly walked down the aisle to Dumbledore. He made him go through the door that all the other Champions had went through.

The professors dismissed us and everybody began talking. The students from other schools looked angry. Sean was angry too, as were the other Hufflepuffs. I know that I should be angry, but I'm not. Cedric is my brother, but Harry is special to me, too. Harry could have been like Cedric. My almost big brother. Our parents were best friends. Harry and I would have grown up together. But we diddn't. But I still love Harry too.

"Guys," I started. "I'm going upstairs for a few minutes."

Ali nodded, and I quickly went to my room. I went straight for my bag. I grabbed a quill and parchment and sat down at my desk. I looked at the pictures on it. One was of me and dad when I was little. Another was of my mom. The rest of them were of friends at Hogwarts. My favorite was the one of me and Cedric at the Lake. It was taken in my first year. I sighed and looked down at the parchment and began writing.

_Daddy,_

_I need help. Cedric is the Hogwarts Champion, but so is Harry. Both of their names came out of the Goblet. Daddy what do I do? They're both my friends and I love them both. But everybody's going to expect me to support Cedric, which I do. But I also support Harry. I love Harry and Cedric both. I really don't know what to do! I need you to help me. I'm confused and scared for both of them. What if something bad happens to both of them? I don't think I'll be able to take either of them getting hurt. Daddy, please write back as soon as you can._

_ Love,_

_ Charlotte_

I sent the letter of with my owl and flopped down on my bed. I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The next morning, I woke up in my school robes. Everybody was still asleep, so I sat up and went into the bathroom. My hair was a mess, and my eyes were slightly blood shot from a somewhat sleepless night. I tossed and turned all nigh, having bad dreams about what could happen in the tournament.

I turned the shower on and stepped in, deciding to take longer than usual. I washed my hair and when I was finished I just stood in the shower, letting the water pound on my back. It felt good, like a weight was being lifted. When the water started turning cold, I got out and wrapped a towel around me. I walked into by room and took out a pair of grey sweatpants and a T-shirt.

Back in the bathroom, I changed and dried my hair. I put it into a ponytail and walked into the common room. It was relatively empty, so I sat down to wait for Cedricc. I feel bad that I haven't congratulated him yet. I closed my eyes and when I opened them again, Cedric was standing above me.

"Hhey," I said standing up. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," he said. "You missed some party last night."

"Sorry. I guess I fell asleep or something."

Cedric nodded and pulled me into a hug. I rested my head on his chest. I felt myself start to shake and he rubbed my back.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm—I'm sorry. I should be happy for you, but I'm scared for you…and Harry. I know that you won't be happy, but I support him too. You're both my big brothers and I need to support both of you. I'm sorry, if this makes you mad, but—"

Cedric cut me off. "Mad? I'm not mad if you support Harry. He needs someone like you to support him. People are going to be angry at him. He needs you as much as I do."

I looked at Cedric. "You're sure?"

"Charlotte," he said using my name not a nickname. "I'm sure. I want you to support Harry. If I write it down will it make you convince?"

"Hahaha," I said. "Ok I believe you."

"Finally," Cedric said, laughing.

"How does it feel Mr. Champion?"

"Like you should bow down to my amazingness," Cedric answered laughing and striking a pose.

"Oh, god. This is going to add to your ego right?"

"You got that right Charley."

Sean came down from the boys dorms. He smiled at me and Cedric, and lifted up his arm to show us something. It was a badge. It read 'Support Cedric Diggory—the REAL Hogwats Champion!' and then it read 'POTTER STINKS!'.

"Where did you get that?" Cedric asked.

"Me and Jack made them last night," Sean responded proudly. He offered one to me but I shook my head no.

"Sean," Cedric started. "Get rid of those. What _were _you thinking? I don't want people wearing them."

"But Potter cheated!"

"I don't think he did. He's fourteen for gods sake! I doubt he wanted this for himself."

"He's Harry Potter," Sean replied. "He wanted this."

"Sean you don't even know him! He doesn't want any of the attention!"

"That's what he says," Sean replied. "But he means something else."

Sean stormed away from us. Cedric watched him but made no move to stop him. I stared at Cedric for a few moments to make sure he was okay. He nodded slightly and together, arm in arm, we made our way to the Great Hall.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

In the Great Hall, Cedric and I sat in the middle of the table, while Ali and Sean sat slightly down the table. She smiled slightly at me, to tell me that we're still ok, even if Cedric and Sean aren't.

The mail came and my owl dropped a letter in my lap. I put it in my bag. Even though its Saturday and we have no classes, I'm catching up with Ginny and Luna today, and at some point, I want to see Harry and Neville. Having friends in other houses is so difficult. You have to pick spots to meet at, and times. And you don't wlaways see them a lot. But at the same time, it's almost better to have friends in other houses. Things definitely don't get boring, that's for sure.

After breakfast, Cedric and I parted. I went up to my room and he went to talk to Sean about the fight. I'm glad he's already working to make the fight better. I opened up dad's letter when I got to my room. I'm meeting Luna and Ginny by the lake in an hour, so I have time.

_Dear Charlotte,_

_You're confusion is normal. I don't think you should choose on to support. Support them both. They equally need you to support them. Harry especially._

_Honey, I don't think that you should be thinking negatively. Nothing is going to happen to Harry or Cedric. They'll be just fine. Dumbledore wouldn't allow anything to happen to his students. He cares for every person in that castle. If he thought somebody could get hurt in the competition, the competition wouldn't happen._

_ Love always,_

_ Daddy_

Reading dad's letter made me feel better about everything. Daddy always makes me feel better. He knows that I get really worried about people, so I easily get stressed. I'm always worrying about Cedric and him and Harry and anybody else I care about. Since I've found out about Neville's parents, I have been worrying a lot.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I've missed you guys!" I exclaimed when I got to the lake.

"We missed you too!"

Ginny, Luna, and I sat down together under a tree, forming a circle. Our bags were in the middle in front of us.

"What did you guys do this summer?"

"We talked about that at the World Cup!" Ginny exclaimed. "Tell us, did you really stay at Cedric's house before the World Cup?"

"Yes…why?"

"Did you see him without his shirt?"

"Ginny!" I exclaimed throwing pieces of grass at her. Luna smiled at us.

"Sorry but I'm curious! He's so good looking!"

"Well I did see him without his short on once…oh and without his pants."

"Charlotte!" Ginny exclaimed throwing grass at me this time.

"I'm joking! I'm joking!"

"You two are crazy," Luna told us. "I think you should get it checked out."

"Maybe, she's crazy!" I exclaimed pointing at Ginny.

"Me! It's _her _who's crazy!"

Luna shook her head. We spent the rest of the afternoon catching up. Ginny talked less about Harry today, which means her crush may be dying down. I hope it's dying down. Although they'd make a cute couple, I think Ginny should think about other guys. I noticed that Luna's strangeness wasn't as strange today. Maybe something's bothering her? Or she's just happy to be hanging out again. Who knows Luna's a mystery.

**AN: thanks for the reviews! Sorry it's been awhile. Schools been out for a few days and I've been busy. But now that summers here I plan to be updating more! Please read and review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this **

Chapter 10

"Harry can I talk to you?" I asked a few weeks after Halloween.

"Sure," he responded, I noticed that he was alone.

Together, we walked out of the castle and towards the lake. When we got near the lake, we picked a tree to sit under. Harry turned and looked at me expectantly.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

"Ok, I guess," Harry responded.

"That's good," I responded. "How do you feel about the whole Hogwarts champion thing?"

"I didn't put my name in the Goblet. I swear—"

"I believe you Harry," I interrupted.

"Really?"

"Yes, and Cedric believes you too. He-he just won't publicly admit it yet."

"And you're sure about it?"

"Of course. I am supporting you both. You're both Hogwarts Champions, and you're both going to need as much support as possible."

"Thank you," Harry responded. I nodded my head.

"People aren't going to have the same views as me though."

"Yeah I know," Harry replied. "I've seen that a lot around here."

"Where's Ron and Hermione?"

"Ron and I had a fight. He doesn't believe me. He thinks I put my name in the Goblet."

"Well, Ron's stupid then. You obviously didn't put your name in the Goblet."

"Glad to know someone believes me."

"Cedric supports you too. He doesn't think you deserve all the mean looks you're getting."

Harry nodded. "Tell him I'm grateful."

"I will," I replied. "So have you talked to Snuffles?"

"Um…yeah the other day. He's off in some came somewhere around Hogsmeade. You should write to him, it'd cheer him up."

"Ok, maybe I will."

Harry nodded. "Was your mum close to him?"

I thought for a second. "I think so. She was a fourth year when your parents, my dad, and Sirius were seventh years. My mum married my dad after graduating, and she lived with Sirius after her fourth year."

Harry nodded. "Sometimes I try to remember my parents, but I just can't. I try and try but no matter what I can't."

I nodded. "My dad doesn't like to talk about my mum much. If I ask about her, he answers but he doesn't like to I think."

"I wish I had someone to talk to about my parents."

"You can talk to my dad or Sirius," I suggested.

"I guess you're right."

"I am right," I said, laughing.

"Someone has a big ego today."

Somebody walked by and flashed one of those badges Sean made. Even though Cedric doesn't like them, Sean gave them out anyway. Cedric didn't want to fight anymore, so he just went along with them, but he refuses to wear one. I rolled my eyes.

"Ignore the badges," I said.

"I do," Harry replied.

"Hey guys," a familiar voice said.

"Neville!" I exclaimed jumping up and hugged him.

"Hi Charlotte," Neville said hugging me.

"Sit with us!" I exclaimed.

"Ok," Neville replied.

Neville, Harry, and I talked for awhile. Ron walked past us and gave us a look. I gave him a look back, and he just looked straight and continued walking with Seamus. After that, Harry said he was going up to his room, leaving me and Neville alone.

"Are you going to Hogsmeade?"

"Yes, are you?"

Neville nodded. "We can hang out if you like." I noticed that he was blushing slightly.

I smiled. "I'd love to."

"O—Ok," Neville replied. "We can meet there at one?"

"Sure," I said. I could feel my cheeks turning pink.

We stayed under the tree together for a few more hours. Before dinner, we started walking towards the castle. I felt really happy. I've had a crush on Neville since my first year, and he finally asked me out! I can't wait to tell Cedric and Ali.

Outside the Great Hall, I kissed Neville's cheek before going into the Great Hall. We separated and I went over to the Hufflepuff table, and he went to the Gryffindor table. I sat down next to Cedric who was in the middle of a conversation with Sean. He looked over at me and smiled slightly.

"What's with your expression?"

"I'm going to Hogsmeade with Neville," I replied.

"Congratulations," Cedric replied. "I want to talk to him before you go."

"What? Cedric!" I whined.

"As your best friend, and surrogate big brother, I think I can talk to him about hurting you."

"Ugh. Cedric!"

"Nope, I'm still talking to him."

I pouted, "You have nothing better to do?"

"Not really, no," Cedric replied.

After dinner, me and Ali rushed up to our dorm and sat on my bed. She was bouncing up and down. I started laughing.

"You're going to Hogsmeade with Neville?"

"Yes," I replied, smiling and giggling.

"How did he ask you?"

"We were just hanging out and he just asked me."

"I'm so happy for you!" Ali squealed.

"Thanks! I wish Sean would ask you."

"I know!" She exclaimed, sprawling herself on the bed.

"I think he likes you."

"Really?" Ali exclaimed.

"Yes, he asked you to dance at the World cup."

"That's true," Ali said.

"We've had this talk before," I reminded her.

"I know," she replied. "I just wish I could know."

"He'll tell you when he's ready."

"What are you going to wear?" Ali asked me, changing the subject.

"Jeans and a shirt," I replied.

"You should wear a dress," Ali suggested.

"No thanks," I replied laughing. I don't really like wearing dresses.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Finally, it was the day for Hogsmeade. I woke up around ten, and I took a shower. Ali was already up and dressed and going through my stuff, looking for a shirt for me to wear.

"You have no nice shirts!" Ali exclaimed.

"Thank you Ali," I replied sarcastically.

Ali went over to her stuff and pulled out a grey-blue shirt. She handed it to me, along with the jeans I was wearing today. I went into the bathroom and put the shirt and jeans on. The shirt made my eyes look blue, rather than grey. I stared into the mirror, at my reflection. If dad was here, he'd say I look like mother. I really wish mum didn't die. Sometimes, I feel responsible for her death, even though dad assures me it wasn't.

"Ok so I think for your hair—hey what's wrong?" Ali asked, standing behind me. Concern was written on her face.

I quickly wiped my eyes. "Sorry, I—I was just thinking about my mother."

Ali stepped next to me and hugged me. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I don't know. I just feel sorry."

"Oh," I replied. "Well, it's ok."

Around, eleven, we left the castle with Sean and Cedric. We got into the horseless carriages. Ali and Sean sat together on one seat, and Cedric and I sat on the other. It was a nice day out. Not too sunny, but not too cloudy either.

"Are you two excited? First Hogsmeade Visit?"

Ali nodded, "of course. I mean we've only watched you two go for the past two years."

Sean laughed. "Are you staying with us while she goes off with Neville?"

"Okay," Ali replied.

"I might go off on my own," Cedric replied. "Not sure yet."

Sean nodded. "Then I guess it's just you and me then."

We finally got to Hogsmeade. Sean and Cedric helped us out of the carriage and together, we walked down the street. People were already walking around going into stores and into the Three Broomsticks. We went into Zonko's Joke Shop, and I saw Ginny's twin brothers—Fred and George. I waved to them and they said hello back to me.

Around one, me and Neville met outside the Three Broomsticks. Cedric came with me, so he could have his 'talk' with Neville before we went on our date. After Cedric seemed satisfied, he hugged and kissed my cheek before disappearing.

"I'm sorry for him," I apologized.

"It's fine," Neville smiled. "Want to go eat?"

"Sure," I replied.

We walked into the Three Broomsticks and found an empty table. Neville went up to order our food, and then he came back and smiled at me. I smiled back. We talked until our food came, and then we continued to talk. He told me about his Grandma and how she wants him to be like his dad. I nodded and listened carefully. Even though we've been friends for three years, he never really talked about his home life before. I feel bad for him. His parents being insane and in St. Mungos must be hard on him. I don't know what I would do.

When we finished eating, we walked around Hogsmeade, visiting random stores along the way. I saw Luna and Ginny walking together, so we talked for a little while with them. Then we went into Honeydukes and Neville bought me chocolate. I thanked him and kissed him on the cheek.

When it was time to go back to Hogwarts, Cedric came and told me that he, Ali, and Sean were leaving. I nodded and looked at Neville.

"I'd better go," I said. "I had fun."

"Me too."

"We should do this again," I smiled.

"Sure," Neville replied. I saw his friends Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas waiting for him.

"Bye," I said kissing his cheek.

"Bye," his cheeks were turning pink.

In the carriage, Ali handed me with questions. So did Cedric and Sean, but not as much. I had a really nice time with, Neville. I definitely wouldn't mind going on another date with him.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Dragons," Cedric whispered in my ear during dinner the night before the first task.

"What?" I asked looking at him.

"The first task. It's dragons."

My eyes widened as I stared at Cedric. Dragons? What are they thinking? They have to fight _Dragons_? IO felt sick to my stomach. I looked at Cedric's face. He looked anxious and nervous. He was incredibly pale. Oh god. Dragons can kill. Why are they using Dragons? It's ridiculous!

"How do you know?" I whispered.

"Shh…we'll talk in the common room tonight, after everybody's gone to sleep."

I nodded my head, but I didn't eat anything else. I felt like I was going to be sick. I know I don't have to face the dragon, but Cedric does. Oh god. And Harry. Does he know about the dragons? Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum probably know already too. Their headmaster's seem to be the kind to find things like this out.

Around eleven, I snuck out of my dorm and into the common room. It was practically empty, except for a few students finishing homework and Cedric. He was sitting on a couch, alone, in the back corner. I immediately went to him and sat down. I rubbed his hand soothingly as I sat next to him.

"How did you find out?"

"Harry told me," Cedric replied.

"So he knows?" I asked, sounding more like a statement than a question.

"Yes," he replied.

I felt slightly happier, knowing that Harry knew about the Dragons too. Cedric still looked pale and nervous.

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"I don't know," Cedric replied.

"You'll figure it out," I told him optimistically.

Cedric nodded and rested his head on top of mine. I let him lie there, rubbing his hand trying to soother him. Together we fell asleep on the couch, afraid of the next day, of what's to come.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The day went by normally, the day of the first task. It begins after lunch. After lunch everybody made their way out to where the first task is being held. Cedric walked with Ali, Sean, and I outside the tent the champions are staying in before and after their turns. Sean hugged Cedric, and then Ali hugged him.

"Good luck," I said hugging Cedric.

"Thanks," Cedric replied hoarsely.

"Be careful I said seriously. Cedric just nodded, and I kissed his cheek.

A few minutes after Cedric went in, Harry came. I hugged him and whispered encouragement in his ear, and I kissed his cheek, before following the path Ali and Sean had gone minutes before. I found them and sat down on the other of Sean, knowing I would barely be able to watch any of it.

Time went by, and the announcer ran across the field, and went to where he was going to announce. I recognized him as the person who did the commentary for the World Cup.

Then, Cedric stepped into the arena. His dragon was lying on its nest but I could see that one egg was gold. The crowd began cheering for Cedric. I hid my face in Sean's shoulder, only seeing part of the arena.

Cedric took out his wand and started saying something and pointed it at a rock. The rocked turned into a dog, and the dog started running. The dragon went after the dog and Cedric ran towards the nest. The crown cheered, but the dragon suddenly veered and sent fire at Cedric, just before he got the egg. I quickly put my whole face in Sean's shoulder, not able to watch anymore. I don't want to watch any more of the champions.

Suddenly, everybody started cheering, and I knew that Cedric got the egg. He was rushed back to the tent. Fleur Delacour went next, followed by Viktor Krum. Finally, Harry's turn came.

I decided to try to watch Harry's turn. He stood behind a rock and shouted 'accio'. Nothing happened, and then his broom rushed to his awaiting hand. He got on it and started flying past the dragon. It went after Harry, and I hid my face in Sean's shoulder, again. A few minutes later, the crowd cheered and I knew Harry got the egg.

A few minutes later, I went to the Champion's tent. I saw Harry, Hermione, and to my shock, Ron. Harry was really smiling, not that fake, one he's been using. I mouthed 'I told you!' and then I went to Cedric. HE had thick orange pasty stuff on his face.

"Hey," I said from the doorway.

"Come in," Cedric told me, patting next to his bed.

I walked into the room and sat down next to him. He smiled, but it looked painful.

"Are you okay?"

"It's just a burn," Cedric assured me. "This stuff is healing it."

I nodded. "Good job...with the dragon."

"Thanks," Cedric replied.

"I was terrified," I admitted.

Cedric nodded. "I know, I was too."

I hugged him and buried my head in his shoulder. He rubbed my back soothingly, and I felt the tension leaving both our bodies. Only two more tasks to go.

**AN: thanks for the reviews! Neville and Charlotte went on their first date, I hope you liked it! This date and another this year is about as much as the two do this year. There'll be more dating in later years. I hope you liked this chapter, I was happy with it. I need you to review your opinion about the second task. Should I stay canon and have Cedric's person be Cho Chang, or should I have Charlotte be his person. Please leave a review with your thoughts! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this **

Chapter 11

A few weeks after the first task, the Yule Ball was announced. Ali and I can't go unless a fourth year or above asks us. I'm not sure I would actually want to go or not. Ball's are probably boring. All you do is dance and eat. Talk about boring. But, I guess if the right guy asked me, I could have fun.

"Oh I wish I could go!" Ali exclaimed.

"Maybe another year," I replied from my bed, not looking up from my book.

"Don't you want to go?"

"I don't know. If the right person asked, I suppose."

"You mean Neville?" Ali asked.

"Oh. Be quiet," I replied blushing furiously.

"Charlottes in looove! Charlottes in looove," Ali sang.

"Shut up!" I demanded, throwing my pillow at her.

"Oh! You want to start a pillow fight?" Ali asked, throwing my pillow back at me and then grabbing her own.

I put my book down, and started jumping on my bed, pillow in hand. I whacked Ali with it, and she did the same to me. We hit each other with pillows for awhile, and then finally stopped, collapsing on our beds laughing.

"Ok, that was fun," Ali announced.

"Yes, it was," I responded.

"I'm getting changed for bed," Ali told me.

"Ok, have fun."

Ali grabbed her clothes and went into the bathroom. I got up and went to my wardrobe. I took out a pair of shorts and a long T-shirt. Ali walked out of the bathroom, and I walked into the bathroom. I changed into the shorts and T-shirts and I put my hair in a ponytail.

When I walked out of the bathroom, I saw Ali sprawled out on her bed reading a magazine. I grabbed the book I was reading earlier, and put it on my desk.

"I'm going to go see Cedric."

"Ok, have fun."

I walked out of our dorm room and down the hall, and then into the common room. I scanned the room for Cedric. I saw him sitting on a couch, a girl in his year talking to him. He looked politely interested. I walked closer to hear what they were talking about.

"Have you asked someone to the Yule ball?" She asked.

"Not yet," Cedric replied.

"Do you, youknowwanttogowithme?" The girl asked quickly.

"Um, I didn't understand what you just said," Cedric said looking confused.

"Do you want to go to the ball with me?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Patricia, but I'm asking somebody else."

"Uh, well, that's fine," Patricia said, rushing off.

Cedric just sat there, probably in shock. I walked up to the couch and sat down. He looked over at me and said, "How much of that did you hear?"

"Pretty much all of it," I replied. "Who are you asking/"

"Cho Chang," Cedric answered, his cheeks turning slightly pink.

"Aww!" I exclaimed. "Finally asking her out?"

"Well…we did go on a date…kind of."

"What? When?" I demanded. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry Charley, but we wanted to keep it a secret. It was at Hogsmeade."  
I can't believe you didn't tell me. I thought we were friends."

"We are friends!" Cedric exclaimed. "I love you."

"I'm still mad at you. I tell you_ everything _and you didn't tell me about this."

"I'm sorry Charley," Cedric apologized again. "But I wanted to keep it a secret, I didn't tell anyone. You're the first person I told."

"Fine, I forgive you, but I'm still mad."

Cedric leaned over and hugged me. I love you. You are my best friend and my little sister, I love you like a little sister. I would have told you, but I wanted to make sure that Cho and I would work out."

I sighed. "Fine. I'm sorry for overreacting."

"It was a surprise," Cedric replied. "And you didn't overreact."

"I love you Cedric."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

As the days toward the Yule Ball became less in between, people around the castle scrambling for dates. Cedric finally asked Cho Chang. She said yes, making Cedric very happy. The night she said yes, Cedric practically jumped around the common room all night.

Sean was still dateless, but I'm not sure why. I've seen several girls ask him, but he keeps turning them down. Ali was still hoping that he'd ask her, but I think that it's a lost cause. There are only two weeks until school lets out for Christmas, so time is running out. Ali, hoping that Sean would ask her, already signed up to stay at the castle, and I being her best friend also signed up to stay home, so if he doesn't ask her, I can be here.

Ali, raced into the room, and jumped onto my bed, her face was practically glowing. I looked up from my book.

"He asked me!" She exclaimed.

"What?" I said. I put the book down. "He asked you? What did you say?"

"Yes silly. Like I was going to say no," Ali scoffed. "I'm so happy Charlotte!"

"I'm happy for you. How did he ask you? Where did he ask you?"

"Well, he asked me to walk to the charms classroom, because he forgot something and when we got there he said 'Ali will you go to the Yule ball with me?'"

"Aw," I replied.

"Now we need Neville to ask you and everything will be absolutely perfect!"

"I don't think it's going to happen, Ali."

"Why not?" Ali demanded. ""You like each other, so you should go to the Yule ball together."

"Wow, Sean asks you to the ball and you get all demanding."

"Yes," Ali responded simply. "You have two weeks to get him to ask you before I intervene."

I sighed. "Fine."

"Good!" Ali exclaimed brightly.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Dear Charlotte,

I want to talk to you. Can you please meet me after dinner? I hope to see you then.

Neville

"He's so going to ask you!" Ali squealed excitedly.

"How can you be so sure?" I asked apprehensively.

"I know these things," Ali replied. "You should do your hair special."

"What? Ali! He might be asking me something _else. _I'm not doing my hair 'special.'"

Ali sighed. "It's your loss, Charlotte."

"I'm going to regret this forever," I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

Ali shrugged. "You never know."

After we went to dinner, Cedric and Sean had to practically drag Ali out of the Great Hall. All throughout dinner, she kept telling me how to act when he started talking to me, but I simply rolled my eyes and pretended to listen. It's not that I don't care about her advice; it's just that I don't really want it. Not right now at least. Neville and I are friends, and not much more than that. He won't care if I am flirty or not. It shouldn't matter.

"Hey Charlotte," Neville said walking up to me.

"Hi, Neville," I replied smiling. "How are you?"

"Good and you?"

"Ok," I responded. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah," Neville said nervously. "Um…well…willyougototheballwithme?"

"Um, what?" I asked confused. "Could you repeat that?"

Neville's cheeks turned pink. "Um, sorry. Wi—wil you go to the Yule ball with me?"

I smiled. Ali was right! "I'd love to."

"Oh, that's o—wait. Y—yes?"

"Of course! I'd love to go with you."

Neville smiled. "Ok, I'll see you then."

"Ok, I'll be looking forward to it."

"Me too," Neville replied. I hugged him before telling him that I needed to go.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

I walked back into the common room. I saw Cedric and Sean sitting with Ali. I walked over and sat down with them. Cedric was the first to notice my glowing face. HE raised an eyebrow, asking me why I'm so happy without saying anything. Ali noticed and immediately squealed.

"He asked you?" Ali exclaimed.

"Yes," I replied smiling.

"Yay!"

"Who asked you?" Sean asked.

"Neville of course!"

"Oh congratulations."

Finally, classes were over and Ali and I were starting to choose dresses, or turning old dresses into better ones for the ball. A seventh year prefect was going to help us with our hair the night of the ball, and she was helping us turn dresses into appropriate dresses for the ball.

"Ok, I think that the style of this dress it's perfect," Mary told Ali.

"Ok, I like it," Ali responded. "What color?"

"Blue," Mary replied. "Definitely blue. It would go well with your eyes."

Ali's dress was a light blue. The bodice had designs on the front and then at the waistline, it continued down in silky fabric and then a lighter blue fabric went over the silk.

"Do you like it?" Ali asked me.

"I love it," I responded.

"You're turn," Mary said to me.

I stood up, wearing the plain dress that we were going to change.

After what seemed like forever, we finally decided on the dress. It tied around the neck and fabric was sparkly. The rest of the dress went down and there was a bow near my waist. It turned outwards slightly.

**AN: Thanks so much for the reviews! I've already started working on the next chapter, so it should be up soon. I'm going away on Friday, so I hope to update by then. I think that from now on, chapters are going to be shorter but hopefully, more frequent. Ideas are always welcome, so leave them in a review if you have any! Please read and review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this **

Chapter 12

The day of the Yule Ball, Ali and I showered and then lounged around the dorm room all day, just hanging out. Around five, people started to get ready. Mary came into our room around six, and did our hair and makeup. Ali's hair was curled and half up and half down. A sparkly blue clip kept her hair in place. Then Mary did my hair and put it in a bun and let a few strands frame my face.

We thanked her for her help and stayed in the clothes we were wearing all day. Mary told us not to change into our dresses until a little after seven, so we don't get anything on our dresses or wrinkle them. Ali was sitting on her bed, reading a magazine, while I sat on my desk writing a letter to dad.

Dear Daddy,

Ali and I are getting ready for the Yule ball. I absolutely loved my Christmas presents! I can't wait to read the books, and I can't wait to really go through the scrapbook. I miss you so, so, so, SO much! I'm sorry I couldn't be with you today. I wish I was. I'll be coming home next break for sure. I'll see you then.

Love always,

Charlotte

"Charlotte we need to start getting ready!" Ali exclaimed.

"Hold on," I said. "I have to send this to my dad."

I quickly attached the letter to Toffee and sent the owl off. I walked over to my dress and changed into it, careful to not mess up my hair or makeup. Ali was already in her dress when I walked into the room.

"Ready to go?"Ali asked me. I nodded.

Together, we walked out of our dorm room and into the hallway leading to the common room. There were lots of girls walking towards the common room. When we entered the common room, I saw Sean's exes light up when he saw Ali.

"You look…You look amazing," Sean complimented. Ali's cheeks turned red. "You look amazing to Charlotte."

"Thanks," I responded.

Cedric joined our circle, and smiled at me.

"Charley! You look beautiful," he told me, kissing my forehead.

"Thanks, Cedric."

Together we walked to the Great Hall. Ali and Sean held hands the whole time. Cedric and I are meeting Cho Chang and Neville in front of the Great Hall. I caught sight of Neville before he saw me. When he noticed me walking down the stairs, his face broke out in a grin, and his eyes lit up.

Cho Chang walked up to us. Cedric let go of me and kissed her cheek. She smiled at him and then looked over at me.

"You look so pretty Charlotte!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks, you do too."

Neville walked over to us.

"Hi Charlotte, you look really, really, pretty."

"Thanks," I replied smiling.

"Listen here, Longbottom," Cedric started. I inwardly groaned. "If you hurt her, I swear I will hex you into next week, understand?"

Neville nodded quickly. "I—I understand. I'd never hurt her."

"Good," Cedric replied, looking please with Neville's answer. "You two have fun now."

"Good bye Cedric." I replied glaring at him. I took Neville's hand and we went through the Great Hall.

The Great Hall looked so different. The walls were covered in sparkling silver frost and hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and Ivy crossing on the ceiling. Instead of House tables, hundreds of smaller tables with lanterns on them were in the hall. Each table could fit about a dozen or so people.

Everybody started seating themselves at tables. Neville and I sat down at the same table as Ali and Sean. Ali smiled at me when we sat down.

When the Champions came into the room, everybody applauded them. They all walked up towards the top table. Cedric waved to me and I grinned back at him, despite being slightly angry with him. When they were seated, I picked up a menu and read it. Everybody was reading menus and started to order, which really just meant saying what you wanted to the plate.

I finally chose baked ziti, and Neville chose steak, the same as Ali. Sean got Penne pasta. Neville kept smiling at me and looking towards Cedric like he was going to kill him. I glared at Cedric, who didn't notice, seeing as he was too busy with Cho Chang.

"Neville, ignore Cedric." I said. "He won't actually do anything."

"He sounded serious though."

"He's just overprotective of me. He'll get over it."

"Are you sure?"

"Well…he'll probably always be slightly protective, until he dies, but he'll calm down."

"If you say so," Neville replied uncertainly.

Once everybody was finished eating, Dumbledore asked everybody to stand up. Once everybody was standing, he waved his wand and the tables zoomed back to the walls, leaving the floor clear for dancing. He conjured a platform and instruments appeared. The Weird Sisters went onto the stage to set up.

The Champions began dancing, along with the professors. Soon everybody began dancing. Neville would step on my foot and quickly apologize. I didn't really mind. I was just glad to be with him.

Neville and I danced along with most of Hogwarts. I saw Ali and Sean dancing and just having fun. Cedric and Cho were dancing too, but they disappeared little while before eleven. Neville and I went and sat with Harry and Ron. Their dates left them a while ago. I took Harry's hand and dragged him to the dance floor and shouting at Ron, "you're next!"

"You don't have to do this," Harry said.

"I want to," I responded. "You should dance at least once, Harry."

"I did remember?"

I rolled my eyes. "That doesn't count."

"Why not?"

"Cause I said so."

"How's your father?"

"Good," I responded. "How's Padfoot?"

"I think he's alright."

"That's good," I answered. "My dad gave me a scrapbook full of memories of my mom and dad, and your parents, and Uncle Sirius. Want to come look at it with me soon?

"I'd like that," Harry responded.

"Good! I'll owl you a time and place in a few days."

"Ok."

The song ended and I danced with Ron for a song and then I sat at the table to rest for a while. Neville smiled at me when I sat down. I yawned into my hand, feeling exhausted. I saw Cedric and Cho come in. Cedric said something to Cho, who nodded and he walked over to us. He looked at me and then at Neville.

"Neville can I borrow Charley for a few minutes?" Cedric asked. Neville nodded.

I stood up and Cedric led me to the dance floor. The song was a slow one, so I put my arms around him and he put his around mine. I felt other girls glaring at me, jealous that I am so close to Cedric.

"Have you enjoyed yourself?" He asked.

"Yes," I replied. "Did you?"

"Oh yeah," Cedric replied grinning. "Do I need to hex anyone?"

I pretended to think for a minute. "Well there is one guy…"

"Who?" Cedric demanded.

"He's tall, good looking, kind of cocky, and in our house."

"Who is this guy?"

"You."

"Oh, I'll get you Charley."

"Oh, I'm so scared."

"You should be."

"Have you figured out the egg yet?"

Cedric nodded. "We'll talk tomorrow."

"Ok."

The song ended and Cedric led me back to the table. The Weird Sisters announced that it was the last song. Neville and I went to the dance floor. Almost everybody else did too.

"I had fun," I told Neville.

"ME too," Neville replied.

"I really like hanging out."

"Same here."

"We should do this again sometime."

"Definitely."

When the song ended, everybody began to gather their things and make their way out the door. I saw Cedric talking to Harry and felt confused. Why are they talking? Maybe Dumbledore told him to tell the other Champions something. Neville walked to our portrait and kissed my cheek. He said goodbye and then left. I walked into the common room and up the stairs to the dorm. I saw Ali already in the bathroom. I grabbed pajamas and went into the bathroom.

"Did you have fun?" I asked.

"Oh my god yes! Sean is so sweet!" Ali exclaimed examining her face to make sure all the makeup was gone. "Did you?"

"Yeah, I'm tired though, we'll talk tomorrow ok?"

"Kay."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The next day, Ali and I spent at least an hour discussing everything that happened the previous night. My feet were still sore from dancing all night. I didn't get dressed; I just stayed in flannel pajama pants and a t-shirt.

Cedric and I were sitting in the common room. It was kind of empty, but we weren't worried about overheard.

"When did you figure it out?"

"A few days ago. But I didn't want to say anything until today."

"why?"

"I wanted to tell Harry something first."

"What?"

"Just a hint."

"Is that what you were doing last night?"

"Yeah," he answered.

"What did the egg say?"

"They're going to take something close to the champion—"

"Like an object?"

"I think so," Cedric answered thoughtfully. "Anyways, I'll have an hour to find it and bring it to the surface."

I nodded. "How are you going to breathe under water?"

"I'm thinking of spells to use."

"Do you want any help?"

Cedric nodded. "Do you want to go through spell books tomorrow?"

"Sire," I replied.

"I'll look forward to it then," Cedric told me grinning.

The next day, Cedric and I went to the library. Cedric sat at the table deep in the spell book, trying to find a spell. I was sort of looking through the book, but I got bored quickly. I took out a piece of parchment to write a letter to dad.

Dear Daddy,

I miss you! The Yule ball was really fun. Neville and I had a lot of fun. I danced with Harry, Ron, and Cedric as well as Neville. Sometime this week, Harry and I are going to look at the scrapbook you sent me. I think it'll take his mind off the champion things and everything. At the ball, Cedric was being overprotective. I love Cedric, but not how he threatened Neville. I know he's just caring about me but still! It's so annoying!

The full moon is coming up soon. How are you? Please write back before the full moon so I know that you're ok.

Love,

Charlotte

"What are you doing?" Cedric asked.

"Sorry," I replied. "I wanted to write to my dad."

"Tell him I say hi," Cedric replied.

"Sure."

"I think I found the spell I'm going to use," Cedric told me, as I added P.S. Cedric says hi!

"What spell?"

"The bubble-head charm."

"What's that?"

"It creates a bubble around your head so you can breathe under water."

"Will it last for an hour?"

"It should."

"Then you found your spell!" I exclaimed excitedly.

Cedric smiled at me and went to put his books away. We left the library together, laughing and talking

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Right before term started, Harry and I met to look at the scrapbook. We sat down together in the grass and went through, reading pages and pages of my father's memories of his friends. There were pictures and notes our parents passed in class, throughout their seven years at Hogwarts. There were few memories of Peter Pettigrew in the book. Harry was smiling more than he usually does. I know that he loves talking and reading about his parents.

My mother was in the book a lot. There were pictures of Sirius hugging her, and one of James pulling one of her pigtails. I noticed that I look like her, a lot like her. One picture really stood out to me. It was of my mom and dad. My dad's eyes were on hers, and he was smiling. She didn't notice him and instead was laughing with James about something. The caption under it was "The moment I knew I loved your mother."

My eyes sparkled with tears. I really wish that I could have met my mother. Not hearing about her through stories dad or Uncle Sirius told me, but actual face to face meeting. Harry squeezed my hand, silently telling me everything was ok and that he understood.

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! Sorry it took so long to update, I went on vacation and then I wasn't inspired to write, but I finally finished this chapter. Reviews make me update faster. Parts of this chapter came out of the book, so if you recognize anything it came from the book. Please leave a review about what you like or dislike about the story, or any ideas. I only have a loose outline of what's going to happen so I'm always open to ideas. I love knowing why you guys read my story! Please read and review!**


	13. Authors note

Hey, everyone. I know that its been a really, long time since I've updated, but I went away and now that school has started everything's been crazy. Anyways, I'm thinking about discontinuing this story, because I've not been getting any reviews. If at least one person tells me that they're reading this then I will most definitely continue! I really do like this story, but I don't want to be writing for nobody. Also I'm looking for positive feedback! What do you like? Anything you don't like? Anything you'd like to see in the future? Just leave any comments in a review or send me a PM. Thank you so much!


	14. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 13

Classes started, and soon it was the day before the second task. Cedric and I had been brainstorming what could have been taken. Cedric thinks that it has to be his broom, but I think it might be his favorite book or poster. He wants to win really badly. If he wins, he will be incredibly happy.

Ali and I were walking towards the common room after dinner. A first year girl came up to us.

"Charlotte Lupin?" she asked nervously. I nodded. "This is for you." She handed me a piece of parchment.

"Thanks," I told her smiling. She nodded and walked off, back to her friends.

"What's that?" Ali asked curiously.

I unrolled the parchment. It read:

Charlotte,

Please come see me in my office

-Professor Sprout

"Are you in trouble?" Ali asked.

"I—I don't think so. Maybe dad has to talk to me."

"That's probably it," Ali said "You should go see her."

"Ok," I said. "I'll see you later."

I walked towards Professor Sprout's office. I don't think I've done anything wrong, but I don't know. Oh god. What if something happened to dad? I wouldn't be able to bear it if Dad got hurt! Dad's my only family! Where would I go? I know Mum had a cousin she was close to…I think her name was Andromeda? I've only met her once or twice. Dad and her aren't very friendly.

I finally got to Professor Sprout's office. I knocked and then heard her say come in.

"You wanted to see me?" I asked.

"Oh. Yes, Charlotte," Professor Sprout smiled. "You're close friends with Cedric Diggory right?" I nodded. "We need to go to Professor Dumbledore's office."

"A—Alright," I said uncertainly.

"Oh, don't worry. You're not in trouble!"

We made our way to the office. My heart was pounding the entire time. I still feel like was in trouble. {Professor Sprout said that I'm not in trouble, but I still feel like I am. What was with that strange question about being close to Cedric? Professor Sprout knows that I am! It made me feel very confused. What does me and Cedric have to do with anything?

When we got to Professor Dumbledore's office, Professor Sprout said the password and we walked up the stairs. She knocked once on the door, and then we walked into the room. Dumbledore smiled at me. I saw three other people sitting there; Hermione, Ron, and a small girl who I didn't recognize.

"Ah, Miss Lupin! We've been expecting you. Please take a seat!"

I took the only open seat next to Ron. He and Hermione smiled at me. The small girl looked confused, and so did Ron.

"Now that everyone's here," Dumbledore started. "We can get started! As all of you know, the second task is tomorrow. You four have been selected as the thing each Champion will sorely miss. MR. Weasley, you are Mr. Potters best friend, Miss Granger, you have become quite close to Mr. Krum. Ms. Lupin you are Mr. Diggory's best friend, and Ms. Delacour, you are the other Ms. Delacour's sister."

Oh that's who she is! You know, she does look a lot like Fleur. I looked at Dumbledore as he continued to talk.

"I am going to put you in an enchanted sleep, and you will wake up the moment you hit the water again."

Dumbledore explained more to us, like what's going to happen and that if we wanted to we could say no. None of us did. One by one, Dumbledore put us into the enchanted sleep.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Cedric's POV

I woke up early the day of the Second Task. Everybody in my dorm was still asleep, so I crept out of bed. I made my way over to my dresser and I pulled out a pair of swim trunks and a muscle shirt. I also pulled out a pair of robes. I knew that I should be resting, but I'm too nervous and excited to try to sleep more.

I walked out of my dorm and into the bathroom. I turned on the shower farthest from my room. I stepped in and just let the water pour out of the shower head and onto me. It felt so good. Showers always make me feel better. Once I finished my shower, I changed into my swim trunks and shirt and then I put my robes on over it. In our dorm, I could hear people starting to get up.

As I walked into the dorm, everybody shouted out versions of 'good luck!' and 'You'll be great!' I smiled and thanked everybody. I sat at my desk and looked at the clock. 8:15. That means I have until 9:30 until the second task. I should probably get there fifteen to twenty minutes early. I grabbed a piece of parchment

Dear Mum and Dad,

Today's the second task. I just got up a little while ago. I'm slightly nervous and anxious, but I'm also very excited. No dragons this time, just merpeople. I don't think I'm going to like going underwater. The water's probably going to be freezing, but I know that it will be ok. I'm still not sure what they took from me yet. Nothing seems to be missing. But I don't know. I'll write to you as soon as the task is over and I have the results!

Love,

Cedric

Sean walked up to me. He smiled at me as I sent my letter away with my owl.

"You nervous?"

"Yeah, a little.":

"You should eat at breakfast."

"I'm afraid I'll throw up."

"You won't. Everything will be fine."

I nodded. Together we walked down the stairs and into the common room. Ali was walking out of her and Charley's room. Alone. Why is she alone? And where's Charley? It's weird that they're not together. The two of them are inseparable. And it's not like Charley gets up early to go to breakfast or anything. When she stayed over, it was incredibly hard to wake her up. She hates waking up in the morning.

"Where's Charley?"

"What? No hello?" Ali asked.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"I don't know where she is. She wasn't in our room this morning."

"Maybe she went to the library or something?" Sean suggested.

"Maybe," I said doubtfully.

I thought back to our conversation yesterday. Did I say anything to her to make her mad? Or is she afraid to see me? I know that she didn't want me to enter my name in the Goblet, but she's been supporting me since then…has she actually been mad at me this whole time?

"Wait," Ali said. "I just remembered that Professor Sprout needed to talk to her last night. Maybe something happened to her dad."

"Should I owl her?" I asked.

"I think that if something happened, we would know," Sean said.

I nodded. We finally got to the Great Hall. Everybody yelled forms of Good Luck. I smiled in response, but I felt preoccupied. Where is Charley? Is she ok? IS she hurt? IS Remus hurt? I need to know! It's going to drive me crazy! I saw that Harry's two best friends were missing and so was Harry. They might have known where Charley is, but they're not here.

"Ced, Charlottes fine. Don't worry about her. She's fine wherever she is. But you need to stay focused. The second task is in like an hour. You need to just focus on that."

I nodded.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Harry hasn't shown up yet. The task starts in less than ten minutes and he still hasn't shown up. And I still haven't seen Charley. She's not coming. I sighed feeling upset. What did I do to make her not come? I need to know if she's ok or if she's mad at me! I hate not knowing things!

Suddenly, Harry appeared and skidded to a halt. Mud splattered onto Fleur's robes.

"I'm…here…" Harry panted.

"Where have you been? The tasks about to start!" Percy Weasley exclaimed.

"Now, now Percy! Let him catch his breath!"

Five minutes later, the task was about to start. My heart started racing. I scanned the crowd, hoping to see Charley there but she wasn't. I knew she wasn't there, though. She's not coming. I sighed one last time as I realized that.

"Well, all our Champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three then. One…two…three!"

A shrill whistle blew through the air. The stands erupted with cheers and applause. I quickly threw off my shoes and socks and my robes. I quickly created the bubble head charm and I dove into the water. I froze for a second, the water feeling like a million needles hitting my skin. I started to swim downwards, not exactly knowing where I was going. The water eventually became less painful to swim in. I knew that wearing swim trunks would be a good idea.

I swam as fast as I could, going in and out of seaweed. So far, everything's been ok. Nothing has really gotten in the way, except seaweed. For some reason, there's so much of it! It's so annoying! Why must there be seaweed? I kept swimming downwards, since that's the most logical way to swim. In reality, though, I have no idea where I was swimming towards. The Mervillage should be at the bottom of the lake, but who knows how far away I am from it. That's why I'm trying to drive as straight down as I could.

I felt seaweed wrap around my leg, so I had to turn around to pull my leg out. While I was busy untangling it, something grabbed at my arm. Soon a dozen grindylows were holding onto me. I tried to grab my wand, but I couldn't find it. I finally found it and managed to get the Grindylow off me. I knew that because of them, I had gotten myself slightly lost. I just kept swimming downwards. I saw a flash of something a few feet away, and I knew that it was Krum. I panicked slightly and kept swimming downwards even faster.

I started hearing haunting singing. I knew that by now, I was going in about the right direction. I swam towards the music and hoped that I wouldn't be down here for much longer. Times probably almost up.

I finally saw a rock with paintings of merpeople. I swam into the village. The buildings were very crude and made of clay. I looked at the houses as I swam by. I saw Harry fighting with the merpeople. I saw four people tied to statues. Ron Weasley was tied to one, Hermione Granger to another one, a young girl, and Charley. Instantly, relief flooded me. She's fine. She has been fine the entire time.

I mouthed got lost to Harry and told him Fleur and Krum were coming. I pulled the knife out of my pocket. The one that Sean had shoved in my hands right before the task began. I cut the seaweed tying Charley to the statue. I put my arms around her and began swimming upwards. Charley wasn't that heavy, but her wet robes added weight to her. It made it harder to swim.

Light began flooding the water, making it easier to see. I knew we should be getting up towards the surface by now. Finally, the water became less dark as I started to reach the surface. I knew that in a few minutes, I would reach the surface. I finally saw the surface and I knew that any second we would get there.

The second we burst through the surface, everybody began cheering. Charley gasped and looked wild and disoriented. She was struggling to stay above water, so I immediately grabbed onto her. She looked confused like she had no idea where we were.

"Here, hold onto me," I instructed putting my arm around her.

I awkwardly made ourselves move towards the dock. Charley couldn't really swim because of the cold. WE managed to get to the docks. Someone took Charley from me and then I got help to get out of the water. Instantly, a thick blanket was wrapped around me.

Someone led me over to Charley and madam Pomfrey. Charley had a blanket wrapped around her, but she was still shaking. I sat down next to her and opened my blanket in the front and pulled her onto my lap and then wrapped my blanket around her too. She rested her head on my shoulder.

Suddenly, more applause as Krum and Hermione Granger surface. Charley looked over at them but kept her head on my shoulder. I leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you Cedric," she said.

"I love you too Charley."

After all the other champions had gotten back to the surface, the judges discussed who got what points. Charley was still sitting on my lap, cuddling into me. We haven't moved from this spot since we got out of the water. She looked pale still and occasionally she would shake.

"Are you still cold?" I asked feeling concerned.

"A little," she responded.

I nodded and pulled her even closer to me, hoping my body would help her get warm. Suddenly, Bagman's magically loud voice made everybody go quiet.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions as follows…

"Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-head charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points."

Applause from the stands.

"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." Enormous cheers from our house in the crowd. "We therefore award him forty-seven points."

"Congrats Cedric!" Charley exclaimed leaning up and kissing my cheek.

"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."

More applause.

"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect. He returned last and well outside the time limit of an hour. However the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own. Most of the judges, feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However…Mr. Potter's score if forty-five points."

I looked over at Harry and gave him a small smile. We're tied now.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Charlotte's POV

After the second task ended, Cedric helped me up. I kissed his cheek. He won! And so did Harry! I don't know how I feel about their tie. This could make my life awkward. What if they make me choose one of them? Cedric said he would never, but I don't know. I'm just…nervous. But one more task and this whole thing will be done with! I can't wait for that!

"Congrats Cedric!" Sean exclaimed coming up to us.

"Thanks," Cedric replied.

Ali walked up behind Sean. She hugged Cedric and congratulated him. As we walked back towards the castle. Everybody yelled Congratulations to Cedric.

**AN: Thank you so, so, so, SO much for all the reviews! They really inspired me to write! I didn't think I was going to get this up tonight, but all the reviews made me want to update. You guys have no idea how much I appreciated it! I hope you liked this chapter. I have a poll up on my bio, so if you could just click on my name and vote I'd appreciate it! It's about chapter sizes. I would really appreciate it if you guys could give me as many reviews as my authors note! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


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